Last Correspondence
by JackRabbit361
Summary: SasuxOC She belonged to a family that she never knew she had. His was taken from him at an age all too soon. Their pasts are intertwined. What will the future hold for them? Follows the Manga. Has lots of humor too!
1. Familial Traits

**Hello! And welcome to the opening chapter of my second fic, LAST CORRESPONDENCE! (Funny story… the title of the story and just this first chapter were switched until just before I posted. This story was almost titled Familial Traits. Sounded too scientific for me and correspondence is such a fancy word… I just love it!)**

**A few base fyi's **

**1. **_Italics are internal thoughts and I think it's kinda obvious whose thoughts are whose._

**2. I researched and have discovered that 'Rin' does not have a last name… so I used Sakura's. (some people seem to think they are related… I don't agree but it's better than me making one up. This will in no way affect the story at all.)**

**3. I'm gonna follow manga and/or anime as much or as little as I damn well please, so if you don't like spoilers or changing up the canon at times… well, you get the idea. **

**4. Tenten and Sai don't exist in this fic. My OC replaces both of them. (Yea, Kara is so awesome; her existence destroys two canon characters.)**

**5. You should always read my A/N's. They can be funny and/or informative. :)**

**Disclaimer (the one and only I will ever bother to type cause I'm lazy and I find it superfluous to rewrite this every freakin' time in, what's probably going to be, a 40+ chapter story.): I do not OWN Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. I do however, WORSHIP it. lol.**

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Chapter 1: Familial Traits

"Oh hey, Kakashi-kun! Wait up will ya'?" The young thirteen year old boy stopped walking and turned around to see his sensei chasing after him. "Oh good.", the tall, blonde man had caught up to him. "I'm glad I found you. There uh… was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"O.k." The underage Jounin stared up at his teacher listlessly. Kakashi had nothing better to do. That's why he was walking aimlessly around town… bored.

"Heh, umm…" Minato grinned in an awkward fashion. _Geez, this is such horrible news. And so soon after… Well, maybe at least with me telling him, he'll go see her._ "You know what?" He placed his hand on his student's shoulder and began leading him down the street. "You and I don't talk a whole lot. I mean, I was sitting in my new office and I thought… 'How messed up is it that I know next to nothing about my own student?'."

Kakashi looked up at the much taller man. "You don't like your new position?" Minato had been inaugurated as Hokage a couple of days ago.

"Meh… It's not that I don't like it. It's that I'm bored out of my mind doing paperwork." He tilted his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose in aggravation, shaking his head back and forth. "Hey, no." He refocused himself. "No changing the subject, kid. We're talking about you right now."

The silver-haired teen shrugged his shoulders lethargically. "Kay. What do you want to know?" _What is he talking about? He knows practically everything about me. Ugh, at least no one is around to see him spaz like this._

"Are you an only child?" The question was unbelievably blunt and the one spazzing at the moment wasn't Minato, it was the kid. Poor thing's eye was twitching.

"… Why do you ask?" Kakashi began to furiously rub his one covered eye. Whenever he started getting stressed, it would itch like crazy.

"I already told you why. And stop it." The Yondaime slapped the young boy's hand away from his own face. "Rin says that if you keep messing with it, it'll never heal." It had only been six weeks since Obito's untimely death and Kakashi's unexpected gift… his friend's eye. "If you don't stop, I'll put hot pepper on your fingers to make you stop."

"Yes, sensei." Kakashi's hand dropped back to his side as they continued to walk down the streets.

"So?"

"So what?"

Minato shook his head, tired of the cat and mouse game already. "Are you or aren't you an only child?"

Kakashi continued to stare at the path ahead of him. _… He's only asking me cause, somehow, he found out about Akane. She's not my sister… at least not anymore. Not since Father disowned her back when I was little. I haven't seen her in years; figured she'd left the village after that last fight. _"Yea, I'm an only child."

Minato stopped walking a disappointed look on his face. "Oh… I see. Well then," He reached into his pocket and pulled out two letters. "I guess these have nothing to do with you." The two letters appeared identical except for the names on their envelopes. One said 'Kashi-kun' the other read 'Kara-hime'.

"What are those?" Kakashi couldn't hide his genuine curiosity.

"Hm? Oh these?" The blonde waved them about a bit for dramatic effect. "These are for the only living relatives of Harada Akane. They found their way onto my desk an hour or so ago and I made it my mission to find their rightful owners." The Hokage's blue eyes settled down upon Kakashi with a serious glint. "I just assumed that 'Kashi' was short for 'Kakashi'. But I guess it's not as rare a name as I thought it was. Clearly, you have no idea who this woman was."

…_was? …living relatives? Wait, does he mean…? _"Yea, I've never heard of her before." The boy ran a hand through his silver hair and desperately resisted the urge to scratch his new eye til it bled.

Minato rolled his eyes without trying to hide the action in the least. "M'kay then." He held the letters in front of his face. "Maybe this 'Kashi' knows 'Kara', cause I've never met a 'Kara' before and I wonder who she is." He lowered his hand to put the letters back in his pocket, but strategically missed allowing them to fall to the ground in front of his student. The two shared a glance before the Hokage began walking away. "Oh and if that eye of yours is bothering you that much, maybe you ought to go see Rin. She's on duty right now." He pointed to the hospital behind the teenage boy. Minato had walked him right up to the building's front steps. "See ya' later, Kashi-kun."

Kakashi stood still and silent until his sensei was out of sight, before he bent down and picked up the two pieces of mail. _Akane…. Onee-chan._ The young boy shoved the letters into his front pocket and swiveled around, making his way inside the hospital.

It must have been a slow day. The hospital was operating with a skeleton crew and it showed. The front waiting room was completely empty and only one nurse sat at the front desk; bored and reading a magazine with her feet propped up on the counter. Kakashi stood quietly at the woman's desk for a moment before he realized she was ignoring him. He coughed quietly, then loudly to attract her attention. With a huff and a pop of her gum, she leaned her head back and looked at him with a 'what?' expression on her face.

"I'm looking for Haruno Rin. She works here." His irritation came out through his voice. She matched it with her lackluster point down the hall and mumbling of 'nursery'.

Kakashi headed down the hall and arrived at a flight of stairs. The nurse 'so conveniently' left out the fact that the nursery was on the second floor and part of the west wing that included several other departments, like Maternity and Ultrasound/X-Ray. Luckily for him, he was smart and knew how to read the actually convenient wall maps that were positioned at every stairwell.

He made his way up the stairs, following the signs. Not that he had to. He could just catch the sound of a couple infants crying. It was obvious where he was. "Hello?" He stood at the abandoned nurse's station, looking around for Rin. There was no one there as far as he could tell, so he started wandering about. Maybe he'd get lucky and run into someone who could tell him where she was.

Then the ancient habit, which all humans have, kicked in as he walked past the newborn's room. Through the large glass windows, he couldn't help but stop and look at them. There were six of them at the moment. Some were squirming about; it looked like two were crying while the rest seemed content with their situation. _All these babies and no nurses around at all? That's just not safe. What if one of them fell? Or started choking or something?_, he thought too soon.

A very joyful, "Hello!" reached his ears. Kakashi turned around to see a short, elderly woman with stark white hair, smiling brightly at him.

"Uh, hello ma'am. I was looking--"

"For Kara, yes. The Hokage already told me someone was going to come see her. Come on, come on." The old woman pushed and prodded him to go with her inside the nursery. "She's just the most precious thing I think I've ever seen. Gosh, just see for yourself." She stood next to one of the cradles and gestured for the boy to look.

Hesitantly, Kakashi made his way to the edge and gazed down at the little girl. She was bundled up in a blanket, sleeping and resembling a bug in its cocoon. He leaned in closer to get a better look. Unfortunately, he was still adjusting to the lack of depth perception and he entered that invisible bubble that babies have, waking her. She didn't cry or scream out, her eyes just popped open suddenly. Instantly, he pulled back.

"Oh would you just look at those eyes sparkle." The old nurse cooed. "Like mint condition coins." Little Kara had bright blue eyes that stayed fixated on Kakashi. Such a strange looking giant, standing so close to you, would catch your attention too. The little girl started to wiggle and squirm about, fighting her way out of her swaddling till the nurse reached down and picked her up. "Oh here, you hold her." The nurse pushed the infant into Kakashi's arms.

Obediently and still mildly shocked over the sight of her eyes, he held her in his arms away from his body. The blue eyes blinked curiously at him and a small, toothless smile crossed the child's face.

"You need to support her neck, sweetheart." The old woman moved his hands for him, inadvertently pulling the blanket off the top of her head. Kara had a tuft of light grey hair. It matched her perfectly. "Ah, you see. She's just perfect."

"How old is she?" Kakashi didn't take his eyes off of Kara.

"Just a week and a half." The nurse picked up Kara's chart and flipped through a few pages. "Poor thing…" She sighed dejectedly.

"Why? What is it?" The boy looked away from the little girl and at the nurse.

The white-haired old woman set down the medical chart. "She doesn't have anyone. Her mother died in labor and there are no listed living relatives. I just hope she doesn't get forgotten in the system." She rubbed her own arm in a self-assuring motion. "I've seen it happen to so many wonderful children around here."

Kakashi slowly set Kara back down in her crib. The girl began fussing and reached out to grab his finger, not wanting to be put down. "I'm sure that won't happen." The nurse looked at him with a questioning face. He floundered for a moment before coming up with some good reasoning that the compassionate woman would eat up. "With a face like her's, I'm sure people will be good to her."

"Oh you're such a sweet child." The nurse clasped his hands in her own.

"Kakashi?" Rin stood in the door to the nursery. "What are you doing here?"

He looked back at the baby, whose eyes never stopped staring at him. "I had an errand to run and then I wanted you to take a look at my eye. It's been bothering me."

"Alright then, come on. I'll take a look at it now." The young girl opened the door more, beckoning for him to follow her out.

Kakashi started out of the room, but raised his hand to tell Rin to wait a moment. He turned back and pulled out the letter with 'Kara-hime' written on it. "Could you please make sure she gets this?" He handed the letter to the nurse. She nodded assuredly. "Thank you." He left the room, following Rin to a small examination room.

"Was that your errand?" Rin asked as she removed the bandages from his left eye.

"Was what my errand?" The boy flinched as she gingerly touched the scar.

"That letter you delivered to the nurse." She held his chin to stop him from moving while she examined the healing. "What was it about?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment, considering his options while his eye burned like it was on fire. _The truth or denial? …Denial's not that bad of a place to live I guess._ "It was nothing. Just something Minato-sensei asked me to do for him."

"Oh." The medic nin threw out the old bandages in the hazardous waste bin and turned back to her teammate. "When was the last time you opened your eye?"

"Huh?"

"Your eye. You haven't opened it in weeks have you?" Rin reached forward and put her thumb just under his eyebrow, ready to pull up and force him to open it. "The scar tissue is starting to seal your eye shut. I'll cut through it, but you need to use this eye. You know what they say." She picked up a scalpel and made a quick slice. "Use it or lose it, Kakashi-kun."

He opened his eye and blinked a few times, undeniably grateful that Rin was a proficient surgeon. She dabbed some gauze where he was bleeding from the cut. Almost instantly, the itching stopped. "Thanks Rin."

She smiled widely and patted him on the leg. "No problem." Kakashi stood up from the examination table and the remaining letter in his pocket, the one addressed to him, fell out. "What's this?" Rin picked it up before he could react. "It has your name on it."

"It's nothing." Kakashi snatched the letter from her hand and crumpled it up, hastily throwing it in the nearest waste receptacle, the one for hazardous waste.

Rin shot him an incredulous stare. "Well, if it wasn't before, it is now." She pointed to the sign on the bin. "Everything that goes in there gets sent to the furnace… daily."

…_shit. _"It was nothing." He shrugged his shoulders and left the room. _Dammit. I-I don't have anything now. What did she want to tell me that I couldn't figure out on my own? I get it. Kara's my niece… I have a niece. Weird…_

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**'sigh' I'm in love with my own story. If only ya'll knew… well, ya'll will eventually cause I'm gonna write it. lol. It's going to be SasuxOC. Technically, it was a tie on my poll, but I'm throwing the one Kiba vote to Sasuke cause they're both badasses. (Even though I'm extremely bias, and hate the character, Sasuke, with every fiber of my manga addicted existence… I can really see this working. So I'm going to do a good job of this. Who knows, maybe I'll make myself like him somehow.)**


	2. Lessons Learned

**Now then, I seriously did lots of research to make sure I got all the ages and dates correct in this story. (I wanted to cause I kinda messed some details up in my last story.) I'm talking translated databook information, none of that crap speculation. … -_-' someone out there should make a nice timeline and post it online so I don't have to bookmark like 4 different Naruto information websites and forum post translation links just to keep everything in line. (It's more work than I'm used to.) **

**The Uchiha massacre occurred 5 years prior to the story of Naruto, meaning that it happened when Sasuke was 8 years old. Sasuke's mom is named Mikoto. (I wasn't kidding. I did my homework and learned something new.)**

**I tried to be as cruel as possible. If I ever saw something like this happening, I would so be sent to prison for killing demons disguised as children.**

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Chapter 2: Lessons Learned

"Leave me alone!" The young eight year old screamed behind her as she was being chased down a secluded street. "Uff…", she huffed as she tripped and fell to her knees. It was a lucky fall. A sharp rock flew over her head as she glanced back to see how close her pursuers had gotten.

"She fell down! Now she's can't get away!" The leader of the pack of children shouted with gusto. The four young boys had been dead set on 'teaching her a lesson' since they had first caught sight of that hideous light silver hair of her's several months ago. Usually the tormenting would only last as long as the school day's recess period, but bad timing on the girl's part lead to the current predicament.

The first boy that reached her, the one that threw the rock, went to kick her, but she rolled out of the way causing him to fall flat on his ass. "OH! Look what she did to Ryu! It's not enough she's a freak, she has to go and knock him to the ground!" The other three caught up and surrounded the girl.

She was breathing heavily, obviously tired from a long run. The gang had caught her fifteen minutes ago, but she had managed to slip away in a marketplace. "I didn't do anything to any of you. Please, just leave me alone." She pleaded as calmly as she could muster.

The leader began laughing cruelly, with the other three following suit. "We would if we could. But you know what they say, Kara. The nail that sticks out… gets the hammer!" He flew forward, driving a punch into her stomach. She doubled over onto the ground.

--

"Huh? Hey, sempai. Why'd you stop?" A cat-masked ANBU turned to look back at his comrade.

The dog-masked man ignored the question. He was completely distracted at the moment by something he saw happening down at ground level. From his perch up on the rooftop of a nearby building, he could see a small girl running and around twenty feet behind her were four little boys chasing after her. Then he noticed it. The boy closest to catching her was about to hurl a stone at her. It probably would have hit her square in the back of the head had it not been for the ANBU's intervention. He made a few quick hand signs and the ground beneath her feet surged just enough to make her trip and fall down, out of the range of the rock.

"Did you just do what I think you did?" The other ANBU stood next to him in shock. "I can't believe you just tripped a little girl so that those boys could catch her. That's really cruel… I…I don't know what to say to you. I think I might have to report you. That was really wrong. I mean--"

The dog-masked ANBU turned and looked at him. "It was either trip her or let her take a rock in the back of the head. You would have done the same thing Tenzou."

"Oh yea, cause a punch to the gut is waaaay better." Tenzou pointed down to the scene below. The dog masked man looked back down at the little girl. She was on the ground holding her stomach while the boys kicked and threw dirt clods at her. There were thankfully no more rocks around.

_God, why do children have to be so evil and stupid?_, the unnamed ANBU was about to jump down to street level and stop the bullying when four kunai stabbed into the ground, circling the little girl and halting the boy's attacks. _Whoa!_

"Whoa!" Tenzou crouched next to his comrade and watched the scene unfold further.

--

Kara gasped and sat up suddenly when the kunai just barely missed her. The bullies were equally shocked, only they had more reason to because those weapons were intended to warn them.

"Leave her alone." A calm, solid voice ordered the young boys.

A smaller voice boomed in reiteration of the former's words."Yea! You heard him! Leave her alone!"

"Tch." The leader of the boys took a few steps toward the teenager with the calm voice. "Just who do you think you are? Huh?" The bully's tough exterior quickly melted as he came to recognize the crest on the two other's shirts. They were Uchiha. "Uh… um... heh, ya' see. Um… It was just a game… We were, uh, playing." He began to flounder for an excuse for his behavior. "Right, Kara!?" He swiveled around and begged her with his eyes to agree.

"No! It's wasn't a game, you jerk!" She took advantage of the situation and threw a dirt clod, that hadn't broken on impact, at him. It collided with him square between the eyes, definitely leaving a bruise. "How do you like it, huh!?"

"Alright, I think I've seen enough." The teenager walked up to Kara. "Come on. Let's go get you cleaned up." He lowered his hand down to her.

She stared at his hand like it had mushrooms growing out of it. "It's o.k." The little boy that was riding on the teenager's back looked down at her curiously. "We're the good guys.", he grinned ever so proud of his older brother. Kara smiled slightly and took the extended lifeline. The three walked away together, leaving the bullies to their own squabbling.

--

"Well, would you look at that, eh? Everything worked itself out." Tenzou stood back up, stretching his arms out above his head.

The unnamed ANBU stood and scratched his silver hair restlessly. "… hmph."

"What? Are you bummed you didn't get to be the hero?" He patted his comrade on the back. "Ha, believe me, there will be plenty of opportunities to help out a damsel in distress. Why don't you aim a bit higher in age next time though? The young ones are notoriously ungrateful." Tenzou almost didn't finish the sentence, he found himself so funny.

The silver-haired ANBU rolled his eyes from behind his mask. "Guess we better get back now. The Hokage's probably upset over our tardiness already."

"Our?" Tenzou touched his chest like he had been shot. "Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm only ever late when I go on missions with you. You're the slowest operative in ANBU, sempai."

"Nothing wrong with stopping to smell the roses… or saving orphans." He walked past and headed off to the Hokage's office ahead of Tenzou.

_Whoever said she was an orphan?_ The cat-masked ANBU thought curiously before rushing after the other.

--

"Why's your hair that color?" The smaller Uchiha questioned the silver-haired girl. She glanced up at him with a hurt expression, as he rode on his brother's back.

"Sasuke. That was mean, apologize." The older one who was holding Kara by the hand scolded him.

"I wasn't being mean, nii-san. I've never seen hair like her's before. It's weird." He continued to stare at the girl as she stared back.

The older one, sensing the tension, broke the silence. "Your name is Kara, right?" He squeezed her hand gently.

She nodded. "Harada Kara."

He smiled kindly. "I'm Uchiha Itachi and this," he reached up and patted the little boy on his back, "is Sasuke." The little brother grinned widely. It made Kara smile in return.

"It's nice to meet you both." She bowed her head curtly. "Thank you for what you did back there. Usually they don't go so far."

Itachi looked at her confused. "You mean that's not the first time those boys have caused you trouble?"

"Oh no. They're not the ones that cause the trouble… It's this stupid hair of mine." She reached up with her free hand and took a lock of her hair into her grasp. "This stupid, stupid hair.", she growled. Seeing the silver strands against her injured hand just proved to upset her more. Her injuries were not life-threatening nor were they terribly painful. He knees were skinned, her hands had defensive wounds and a few bruises were starting to form from the strikes of the boys. However, the most damage she took was to her self-esteem.

"Hair does not incite little boys to violence, especially towards a girl." Itachi spoke wisely beyond his years.

"Yea, those jerks were the stupid ones, Kara-chan." Sasuke piped up. "Your hair is weird not stupid."

"Sasuke." Itachi warned him again.

"What?" The little boy whined. "I'm not being mean." He looked down at Kara. She was glaring at the ground as she walked alongside his older brother. "Look!" Sasuke dropped down from his perch and rushed around to Kara's other side. He started walking in front and just to the side of her. "My hair is weird too. If you look at me from this angle, it looks like a duck is sitting on my head."

Kara looked up and instantly saw the similarity to a duck's behind. "Hehe, you're right. It does kinda look like that." She started giggling. Sasuke turned around and began to laugh with her. Itachi shook his head at the children's silliness.

The rest of the way to the Uchiha compound was filled with the two children laughing and joking with each other.

They arrived at the brothers' home and walked inside, Kara being led by Itachi. "Sasuke, go get the first aid kit from the bathroom.", he instructed. Obediently, the young boy ran ahead. "Mother.", Itachi called out.

"Hm? In here." She called back.

Itachi lead Kara into the kitchen, where his mother was. "We have a guest, Mother." He pulled the little girl ahead of him and presented her.

"Oh my!" The woman knelt down to get a good look at her. "You poor thing, what happened?" She immediately grabbed a damp cloth from the sink and started cleaning the little girl's face and hands.

Before either Kara or Itachi could respond, Sasuke came rushing back with the first-aid kit. He heard his mother's question and jumped at the chance to answer her. "She got beat up by some bullies because they didn't like her hair. But nii-san and I swooped in and saved her!"

The boys' mother looked up at them with a smile. "What wonderful sons I have."

"Yes, ma'am." Kara agreed with her.

"Come on. Let's go get you cleaned up for dinner." The woman took Kara's hand and led her to the washroom. "Itachi, please watch the food for me."

He nodded and took over his mother's cooking. "What about Father?" Itachi didn't look up from the stove.

His mother glanced back at him as she walked away with the little girl in tow. "He's at a meeting and won't be making it to dinner tonight."

Sasuke followed the two girls to the back, with his first-aid kit, where he watched his mother take care of Kara's minor injuries. "Does it hurt?" He sat next to Kara, up on the countertop, as his mother poured some sodium peroxide over her cut hand.

"Nope. It just tingles a little." She looked up at the woman taking care of her. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Oh it's nothing, sweetheart." The woman patted down some stray grey hairs on Kara's head. "What was your name, again?"

"Kara. Harada Kara."

She smiled. "Mine is Mikoto." The woman laughed lightly. "I think it might be a bit obvious what my surname is."

Kara smirked, "Yes, ma'am. You're all a part of the Uchiha clan."

"What about your family? Where do you come from?" Sasuke poked Kara in the shoulder to regain her attention.

The silver-haired girl's head dropped slightly as she thought of a proper response; one that wouldn't evoke pity from them. In eight short years, she had had enough pity to last her a lifetime. "I, uh, don't know." She looked up and smiled with a curt laugh, as if she were joking.

Instantly Sasuke crawled behind her and started messing with her hair, as if he were searching for something. "Sasuke! What on earth are you doing?" His mother reprimanded him, pulling him off the countertop. "My goodness child. You're going to be eight years old soon and you're still doing such inappropriate things."

"She must have a head injury if she can't remember her family." The young boy rationally explained.

"No, that's not it." Kara spoke up while straightening out her hair again. "I just don't know. I've never known." Mikoto understood what the girl was saying. She didn't have a family. The motherly figure squeezed Kara's shoulder in a reassuring manner. "It's not a bad thing." The little girl smiled. "My hair is more of a problem than not knowing about a few random people who are probably dead." She laughed somewhat morbidly.

Mikoto tilted her head in confusion and asked about the girl's hair; choosing to ignore the dark humor the child apparently had. "Why? What's wrong with your hair? It's beautiful."

"She thinks it 'incites violence'." Sasuke tried to remember what his brother had told Kara about her hair. "That's just silly, right mama?"

The woman patted her son on the head. "Yes, sweetie. Why don't you go see if your brother needs any help in the kitchen?" The dutiful young son nodded and dashed off to the kitchen. "Kara…"

"Yes, ma'am." The girl could tell something was coming. _Pity, no… concern, no… genuine kindness, maybe._

"If you'd like me to, I can help you with your hair." Mikoto waited for a response from the girl. After a few moments, Kara nodded her head repeatedly. "Alright." She reached into a cabinet and pulled out some hair dye. "I keep plenty of this around for whenever I get a few grey hairs. If you're sure, I'll dye your hair for you. They're won't be a single silver strand left. Is that o.k. with you?"

Kara's blue eyes sparkled at the prospect of ridding herself of her wretched silver hair. "Yes! I-I… thank you! Thank you so much, ma'am!"

Twenty minutes later, Mikoto walked back to the kitchen with a raven-haired Kara. The little girl was positively glowing; she was so overjoyed with her new appearance. Now she could just blend into the crowd and no one, not those bullies, not anyone could call her a freak based off of her appearance anymore.

"Whoa! Wha-What happened!?" Sasuke rushed forward. "Your hair… it's black now."

"Yup!" Kara spun around, showing off her ebony locks. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"It looks very nice." Itachi walked past the children, helping his mother take the food to the table. "Come on. It's time to eat."

At the dinner table, Kara kept having trouble keeping her shoulder-length hair out of her face. Her ears weren't quite big enough to keep her tresses tamed and the hair continued to fall forward as she ate. Finally Itachi got annoyed to the point that he had to stop it. "Here." He pulled a dark purple ribbon out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Kara stared for a moment before gratefully taking the ribbon. "Thank you, Itachi-san." She put her hair up properly.

"Nii-san, where did you get a piece of ribbon?" Sasuke picked up on the oddity of his older brother carrying around ribbon. Itachi only shrugged his shoulders indolently. "Hmph." The boy went back to his food.

After dinner, Kara helped Mikoto clear the table and wash the dishes. "Thank you for your help, Kara." She gave the young girl a hug.

Kara smiled a small smile. "Thank you for your hospitality and for my hair. I really appreciate it ma'am."

"You're welcome. Remember, you'll need to keep up with your roots about every two months or so." Mikoto walked the girl to the front door where Itachi waited to walk her home. It was already dark out and it was decided that it wouldn't be safe for her to go home alone. "Goodbye Kara."

"Goodbye Kara-chan!" Sasuke popped out of whatever space he had disappeared to, to say his farewell.

"Goodbye, ma'am. Goodbye, Sasuke-kun." Kara bowed graciously. "Thank you again, for everything." Itachi led her outside and took her home. It wasn't that long of a walk. As it turned out, Kara lived relatively close to the Uchiha compound; about fifteen minutes at a walking pace.

At the front door to the apartment complex, Kara turned to face her escort and bowed. "Thank you very much, Itachi-san." She looked back up at his eyes. "Thank you for saving me."

The teenager knelt down to be level with the small child. "You shouldn't let them bully you. I can tell you're better than that." He held her chin to ensure she didn't look away. "Promise me that you'll never let anyone treat you like that again. Promise that you'll stand up for yourself in the future."

Kara felt trapped; not scared… just unsure. But from his hardened stare, she received a sense of reassurance. "I promise.", she whispered, her gaze unwavering. "I swear."

"Good." His grim features broke with a small smile. "If it's one thing everyone needs to learn, it's that while teamwork is essential, self-reliance is indispensable." He walked away silently.

The lesson became instantly embedded in her mind. "Oh! Itachi-san! Your ribbon!" Kara pulled the silk from her hair and started to rush after him.

He turned and waved her off. "It's yours. Keep it."

She stopped in her tracks and clutched the ribbon against her chest. _Wow, I wonder when I'll see him again._ Unfortunately, for her, she never saw Itachi again. Less than six months later, the massacre happened and no one dared to even speak his name. But Kara never forgot him or the words that he spoke to her that night.

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**'yawn' How're we doin' so far? Review!!! XD (We got one more decent sized time-skip and then the flow of the story will be fairly consistent.)**


	3. First Impressions

**Yay! Their first meeting! It's so sweet and awkward… and Pakkun's a jackass.**

**It seems to me like my chapters have been quite long. It's hard for me to find a stopping place with them. Oh well, it's a problem I'm happy to have. Just means more story for ya'll. I swear to God, I was so tempted to put in some Star Wars jokes in here, but I resisted. They would have been hilarious (if you know what a Jedi mind trick is) but it would have been completely out of place, so… no.**

**Instead, I'm making lots of, mildly funny, legal references in this one. Or at least they pertain to some legal processes (or is it processi? lol). I've been watching too much CSI and Daily Show. Also, I don't know why, but apparently I have something against nurses. ('Shrugs shoulders apathetically') Read and enjoy my hard work!**

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Chapter 3: First Impressions

'Tap'Tap'Tap' The sound of someone knocking on the window just above her bed woke Kara out of her precious slumber. 'Tap'Tap'Tap' This time it sounded a bit more annoyed than before. That was probably because, while the first tapping woke her it failed to encourage her to go to the effort of pushing herself out of her bed to see who it was. A muffled, "If you don't open the window, I'm going to smash it." came from the other side of the glass.

Kara groaned and sat up, throwing the covers off of her. She crawled up to the window and opened her eyes. The sight was so unexpected, that she didn't even flinch. On the other side of the window was an ANBU operative, who she imagined was glaring at her from behind her mask. The sleepy eyed, eleven year-old girl opened the window a crack and nodded her head upwards, inquiring as to why in the name of God would an ANBU be threatening to break her window at 9 a.m. on her one day off, from her classes at the Academy, a week.

"The Hokage wishes to speak with you. Get up and head over there." The soldier left immediately after delivering her message. Apparently, early morning assignments didn't agree with her either.

"Pft." Kara flopped back down on her bed with a deep yawn. "He doesn't really expect me to show up this early." The rationale had a glowing credibility in her mind. "…yea." She reached down and pulled the covers back over her head and went back to sleep.

She woke up about four hours later from a peaceful and uninterrupted rest. "Guess I should go see what the old man wants." Kara crawled out of bed and cleaned up, getting dressed in her usual black skirt and boots with her purple long-sleeved top. A quick brush of her black hair and it was ready to be put up with her favorite dark purple ribbon. The end result made her hair spiky, but then she didn't need to try very hard to achieve that effect. It was a natural irk that years of hair dye couldn't suppress like it had suppressed the natural silver shine of her hair.

Kara stretched her legs and headed out to meet the leader of her village. By the time she finally made it to the door of his office, another hour had passed. It was now two in the afternoon. She knocked lightly. An order to enter came back. "You wanted to see me Hokage-sama."

He was sitting at his desk with a cat-masked ANBU standing to his right, awaiting any order. "I wanted to see you at nine this morning." The old man's reply was borderline sarcastic. "Where have you been all day?"

"Nowhere." The young girl walked up to his desk. "I came straight over here from my place."

The Hokage placed his chin over his propped up hands. "I see. And what if I had needed to speak to you about something urgent?"

Kara thought for a moment. "Well… I guess I would have showed up sooner because I would have been kidnapped and brought here."

"Kidnapped?" Now the Sandaime was intrigued as to Kara's thought process.

"Yup." She mimicked his posture, propping her head up on her hands as well. "ANBU have a reputation for kidnapping people when they are needed immediately. So I guess I figured that you would have just had that lady ANBU kidnap me if it was that important."

The old man chuckled at the child's theory. "I suppose I do that a bit too often." He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a scroll. "Now, on to why I wanted you here. I need you to deliver this to someone for me. Think of it like a mission."

Kara raised an eyebrow at the request. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Delivering a message?"

"No. I just thought it was illegal to make someone who's not a ninja complete a mission. I still have another year till I graduate from the Academy." Her blue eyes stared at him with a level of sincerity that would make an honest man question himself.

He sighed, "Alright then. It's not a mission."

"But you just said--"

"Consider it a personal favor to me instead." The Hokage pushed the scroll into her hand. "Tenzou here will show you where the house is that you need to deliver it to." He made a gesture and the cat-masked ANBU walked forward.

Kara put the scroll in her back pocket and then looked back up with a confused stare. "Doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose of me delivering the message? Why don't you make Mr. Kitty here deliver it, if he knows where it's headed and is going anyways?"

"Hmm…" Tenzou spoke up. "You know, she does have a point, Hokage-sama." He looked down at the little girl. "And hey, don't call me Mr. Kitty."

The name of 'Mr. Kitty' was finally setting in. "Sorry." Kara stifled a laugh. "Sir,", she put her hands back on the Hokage's desk. "Why don't you just write down the address? I can manage on my own."

"What? You don't want my company?" Tenzou crossed his arms.

"Not really. No offense, Kitty-man." Kara laughed and hid her face as the Hokage wrote down the address of her destination. The ANBU huffed and looked out the window.

"Here is the address." The Hokage handed Kara a piece of paper. "I wrote the name of the person you're supposed to hand the scroll to on there as well."

She nodded in understanding. "Thank you sir. Is there anything else?"

"No, no. Just be sure to deliver the message right now and not after a five hour nap." The old man chuckled.

"Yes, sir. Goodbye." Kara smiled and bowed her head respectfully. Turning to face the ANBU operative she faltered. "Um, bye… hehe… You know, now I'm always going to see you as Kitty." She giggled as he slightly twitched, obviously resisting the urge to smack her. "Goodbye." The young girl left the office, headed off to complete the favor the Hokage had asked of her.

"God, that kid's something else, eh sir?" Tenzou commented as he walked back around the desk to his post at the Hokage's side.

The old man still had a smile on his face. "Yes. Kara's an interesting combination of honesty, humor and clever wit." He continued with his work.

Tenzou snorted a laugh. "I wish I could see the look on sempai's face when she shows up. I still can't believe he's related to her."

"Yes, well. It's about time their paths crossed. Now be quiet, I'm working." The Hokage motioned for Tenzou to shut up. _I swear this boy is the most talkative ANBU… ever._

--

_Alrighty… this dude's house is supposed to be around her e somewhere._ The address had taken Kara to the outskirts of the village, where houses were much more spread out. Clearly, this guy liked his privacy. She finally arrived at a medium sized house that sat on a large piece of property. It was relatively close to the forest and she could tell that the land behind it was undeveloped. _What does one person do with all this space?_

Kara knocked on the front door. No response, so she knocked again only louder this time. "Hello?" She walked around to a window and tried to peer inside. "Ugh…" The curtains were closed. "Hello?!" Kara called out loudly once more.

She pulled out the crumpled piece of paper that had the name of her delivery's recipient on it. "Hatake-san, I have a letter for you from the Hokage." She pounded on the door one last time. With her last strike on the door, it slowly creaked open. Kara's eyes widened slightly. _…… That's not terribly creepy._ "Um… hello?" She peeked inside, slowly inching her way into the dark house. "I've got a, uh, letter here."

Just as she cleared the front door, it shut behind her, leaving her surrounded by darkness. She gasped and jumped forward, knocking down something that shattered on impact. "Dang it!" Kara groped about in the darkness, trying to find a light switch. She hit her head on something solid and fell back on her rear end. "Ack! Owwww…" The girl held her injured head. "Hey, look you're clearly not home right now so I'm gonna go! …god I'm such an idiot." She stood up as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. "Ah, there's the door."

"Leaving so soon?" A low grumbling voice from an unidentifiable location called to her.

If Kara's eyes could have dilated anymore, they would have been solid black. "….huh?" She managed to squeak out. "Hatake-san?"

A pair of canine-like eyes appeared closer to the girl than she would have liked. "Nope." Seven more pairs of eyes appeared all around her. Some of them with accompanying grinning fangs that growled ferociously.

--

Kakashi walked up to his front door balancing three bags of groceries while still reading his favorite orange book. "Hmmm…." He considered how he was going to open the door. He didn't want to lose his page and setting the groceries down would be too much trouble. Luckily enough for him, he wouldn't have to struggle with the decision-making process for too long. The sound of growling reached his ears from the other side of the door. "That can't be good."

In the next second, his front door was flung open from the inside and a young girl knocked him down, desperate to escape the snarling dogs. She scrambled away from him in an equally terrified manner. "Wha!" The girl struggled to regain her breath and posture.

_Kara!_ Kakashi sat up on the ground still shocked by what had just happened.

"Who…" Kara was breathing heavily, holding on to her knees for balance. "Who're you?"

The man stood back up, catching sight of the small pug that sat in his doorway. "Pakkun, you are in big trouble." He glared at the dog and its smug grin before turning back to the girl. "Are you alright?"

"F-Fine." Kara stood up straight and brushed some of the dirt from her clothes. "I'm sorry. I, uh… yea." She pointed to the strewn about groceries apologetically.

"Don't worry about it." He started picking them back up. Kara instantly began to help him. "So, you are?"

"Oh, right. My name's Harada Kara. The Hokage asked me to deliver a letter to this guy, Hatake Kakashi. Is that you?"

Nodding, Kakashi picked up two of the three reassembled bags. "Yea, that's me. He sent you on a mission?"

"A favor. Yea, we had a few legality issues with the definition of 'mission' seeing as how I'm still unfit to carry one out." Kara tapped her forehead significantly, grabbed the third bag and followed him inside.

"And that's why you were in my house, huh?" He flicked the light switch on. It was right next to the front door.

Kara glared at the switch and its obvious placement for a moment before following the man to the kitchen. "Yes, well. The door opened and I thought you were here." Remembering the evil eyes that scared her, she scanned over her surroundings. _Not one dog in sight. That's mildly upsetting… what if they jump me or something? Hmm…. Better stick close to this guy._

"The dogs." He stated dully while motioning for her to put the bag in her arms on the table. "I'm sorry about them. They don't get out much."

"They can open doors… and talk. If it wasn't so freaky, I'd say it was impressive." The girl laughed, but her laughter turned sour as she noticed the shattered porcelain on the floor. "Oooo…", she covered her mouth.

"What?" Kakashi walked over and saw the mess. "Oh." Scattered on the floor were pieces of what could have been either a teapot or a vase. It was difficult to tell. "Well, I'll clean that up. You put away the groceries."

"Alright." Kara quickly got to work. She felt it was the right thing for her to do, seeing as how she broke something that was probably expensive. She was putting away some things in a cabinet under the sink when she heard a low growl again. Instantly, she stood up and whipped around to see the little pug snarling at her.

"I thought you were leaving." He jumped up on the counter she was leaning against.

Kara didn't move; she just eyed the dog up and down. "You're a sick puppy, you know that?"

"Yup." The dog stood up and growled loudly, making himself foam at the mouth on purpose, to frighten her. Slowly she started to back away, thinking that it was highly likely that the dog had rabies.

"Pakkun!" Kakashi rushed over and grabbed the little pug before it launched itself at Kara's face. "I'm sorry." He crinkled his eye in a sheepish smile. Kara halfway smiled in response, unsure about how much she could trust someone who kept such aggressive animals.

The silver-haired man tossed the pug into another room and shut the door. "Pakkun has issues with people who aren't family." _Well, not that you're not. But he's obviously unaware for some reason._ He saw Kara putting away some groceries in a high cabinet. "Oh don't worry about those. I'll put them away later." _Please don't fall, please don't fall, please don't fall._ He rushed over to her side.

"No need. I can manage." The young girl was precariously balanced on a tall chair putting them up. "All done." She jumped down from the towering height without a second thought. "Here." She pushed the scroll she had been sent to deliver into his hand. "Goodbye sir." She headed for the door.

"Oh, uh, bye." He responded just before she shut the door behind her. With the strange girl gone, the other dogs crept out of their hiding spaces and made their way toward their master. "One of you please tell me why you would do that to her?"

After several agonizing seconds under Kakashi's glare, one of them finally spoke up. "It was Pakkun's idea. You know we'd never do that on our own."

"Yea." - "Yup, yup." - "No way on our own." - "It's true." - "It was all Pakkun's fault." - "I was asleep and just woke up at the wrong moment."

Pakkun opened the door that he was locked behind and jumped up on the kitchen table. "Sellouts."

Kakashi slumped into a chair at the table and pulled open the scroll Kara had handed him. "Oh wonderful. It's blank." He let it roll onto the floor. _The Hokage did that on purpose didn't he? He's been telling me that I needed to 'reconnect' with her. …stupid dogs._ He put his head down on the table and sighed.

"What's wrong with you?" Pakkun bit his master's hair and pulled.

He pushed the dog back and glared at him. "Thanks to you, Kara's first impression of me is that I'm some crazy guy who owns sadistic dogs that like to harass children."

"So? You usually think its funny when we pick on people. What's so special about that brat?" The dog started cleaning himself on the table.

"That was Kara." The pug continued to clean himself, not getting the message. "Ka-ra."

Pakkun looked up. "With a 'C' or a 'K'?" Kakashi let his head fall back down to the table… repeatedly. "Oh wait." The dog had his epiphany. Kakashi stopped and stared at his dog, though he was thinking of disowning him. "You mean that was Kara? Like our little Kara? Akane's daughter, Kara?"

"Give the mutt a prize." The Jounin sat up straight.

"Well, sorry. I didn't recognize her without the silver hair." Pakkun jumped down and started to walk away. The other dogs moved and made a path for him.

"Yea. She's been dyeing it for a few years now." Kakashi bent down and picked up the blank scroll. "Where are you headed?" The dog didn't answer him. "Pakkun?" He stood up and started walking after the pug but the other dogs got in his way.

"I'm gonna go make her come back." Pakkun ran out the front door, slamming it behind him.

"Pakkun! No! Get back here! Pakkun!" The silver-haired man scrambled over the seven other dogs and ran to the door.

--

"God that was awkward." Kara gingerly touched her forehead. Whatever she had run into earlier definitely left a nasty bruise. "That dude and those dogs have got some issues." She was about three houses away by the time she heard it. It was a low growling accompanied by the sound of little feet on the dirt path rushing toward her. "What the… AAAHHHHH!!!" She turned around to look only to be taken down by the rabid Pakkun. He dug his teeth into her left forearm, refusing to let go until he succeeded in tearing her arm from her body.

"Pakkun!" Kakashi caught up and pried the canine from Kara's bleeding arm. "I'm really sorry about this." Kara sat silently on the ground clutching her arm for dear life. The look on her face was pure shock and pain. "I, uh…" His gaze reverted back to the dog in his arms. "You…", he growled. "You. Home. Now."

"Hehehe…" The little dog chuckled lightly and whispered in his master's ear. "Now you get to spend more time with her and fix that bad first impression of yours." Pakkun leapt from Kakashi's arms and ran home.

The man rubbed his visible eye. He could feel a headache coming on. "Here." He reached out to the injured girl. "Let me take a look at it."

"No!" She shot up from the ground still in a state of shock. "I think you've done enough, thank you very much."

Kakashi sighed tiredly, "You're bleeding and probably need to go to the hospital. Come here." He chased after her for a few steps before catching her.

Reluctantly, Kara let him look at her arm. Her sleeve was already soaked in her own blood. "Ah! Be careful, please." She scolded him as he gently examined the wound Pakkun inflicted on her.

"He didn't puncture the vein." _Thank God!_ "But you'll probably need some stitches." He looked into her eyes and smiled. "At least you're not going to bleed to death."

The girl stared blankly back at him. "Are-Are trying to be funny?" _His dog just bit a chunk out of my arm and I could totally sue him for damages and he's making jokes?! …heh, my kinda humor._

He blinked a few times, unsure how to read the child. "Alright, to the hospital." He made a hand sign and transported the both of them to the hospital.

Kara swayed back and forth. "What was that?" She held her head from the sudden feeling of vertigo.

"Transportation jutsu. It saves time. Don't worry the feeling passes quickly." Kakashi steadied and lead her inside the white building.

The nurse at the front desk was watching a soap opera on her mini television and eating potato chips. "Excuse me. We need a doctor." Kakashi stood politely at the counter, only to have the woman remain silent and point to a piece of paper that said she was 'On Break'. The silver haired man turned around and held his head. The headache had worked its way to his right temple. _This is why I hate hospitals._

Kara looked up at the man and raised an eyebrow. _He's giving up that easily? I guess I better show him how it's done._ The little girl could just barely see over the nurse's desk, so she jumped and crawled up onto the counter, blood from her arm smearing everywhere. "Excuse me, ma'am. I really need a doctor."

Kakashi watched the whole thing and chuckled lightly when the nurse popped right out of her cushioned-rolly chair and scrambled to get the papers that would need to be filled out. The nurse handed him the forms and very graciously asked them to take a seat while she fetched a doctor.

"So, what's your name?" He asked the young girl as he worked his way through the paperwork.

Kara winced as she messed with her arm. The wound and all the blood was starting to fascinate her bored mind. "Harada Kara."

"No middle name?"

"Nope." She pulled her bloody sleeve back down to cover the nasty injury. Other people waiting in the front room appeared to be quite disgusted with her fascination.

"Birthday?" Kakashi could have easily filled out all of her information without asking her. He knew all about her, but the can of worms that would open was much, too much trouble for him to bother with.

For some reason, Kara was a bit off put by the questionnaire. "Why don't I just fill it out?"

"Your arm is hurt."

"I'm ambidextrous." She extended her hand for the clipboard.

"Really? That's curious." Kakashi sounded genuinely interested. "But no, you'll get blood on it. Now what's your birthday?"

Kara rolled her eyes. "November 11th, I'm eleven so you do the math."

"Same birthday as a friend of mine." He mumbled as he wrote down the information. The nurse came back and waved to the two. "Come on, Kara." He took her hand and followed the woman.

The doctor walked in just after they entered the room. The man bent down to Kara's level. "Hey there sweetheart." He smiled. "Why don't you jump on up on the table and we'll take a look at you." She did as she was told and held still as the doctor looked over her injuries. There were several actually, besides her obvious bleeding arm; Kara had a large bruise on her forehead and her hands and knees were skinned from Pakkun's takedown. She looked like she had been in a bar fight. "Alrighty… so, which one of you is gonna tell me what happened?" The doctor looked at his patient expectantly.

Kara glanced over at Kakashi momentarily before answering the doctor. "Well, I hit my head on something and then I got bit by a dog."

"You don't remember what you hit your head on?" The doctor checked her eyes with his flashlight again.

"I never saw it. It was dark." She nodded her head in concentration. "It might have been the corner of a couch or maybe an open door. I don't know."

"Hmm…" The doctor glanced back at Kakashi, as the man stood off to the side, still flipping through the irritating paperwork. "And what about these?" He lifted Kara's hands and pointed to her knees.

"That was the dog's fault. It knocked me down and the ground was rough."

The physician nodded his head with a morose manner. "All right then. You sit tight and I'm going to go get some stuff for your arm and these scratches." As he passed the Jounin, he whispered, "Can I talk to you out in the hall?"

"Hm? Yea." Kakashi set down the papers and waved over at Kara. "I'll be right back." He closed the door behind him.

The little girl just snickered at the casual statement. "No rush." She knew what the doctor was thinking. _Oh boy… _She looked at herself, really analyzing the situation. _This looks really bad doesn't it?_

Out in the hall, the doctor, who was of similar stature to the silver-haired man, very calmly asked Kakashi, "What happened to that little girl?"

The man sighed. "Well, she hit her head on something--"

"A door?" The doctor interrupted with a pressing tone.

"I don't know. I wasn't there yet." He raised an eyebrow at the man's attitude. "And then my dog bit her. It was an accident."

"The dog bite or the 'door'?" The physician took a file from a nurse that walked up to him with stitches and antiseptic. "What was your name again?"

Kakashi stared silently with a scowl apparent on his face. "You think I did that to her, don't you?" The two medical professionals glared at the ninja with an accusing gaze. "What? Just because I'm a ninja, that means I beat up little girls?"

The doctor ignored the man's claims to innocence and turned back to the file he was trying to fill out. "Was the dog a trained fighter?"

"Pakkun's a ninken… so yea, he knows how to kill people. It wasn't on purpose and I didn't hurt her."

"Has the dog been turned over to the authorities?"

"What, no! It. Was. An. Accident." Kakashi shook his head back and forth. _I was wrong earlier. This right here, is why I hate hospitals. They're bias against ninja._ His headache was now pounding between his eyes.

The door to the examination room cracked open and Kara walked out to join the discussion. She coughed to clear her throat before she spoke. "Excuse me, sir. But Hatake-san is telling the truth. My injuries are completely accidental. He had no part in them and was only being a very kind person to make sure I made it to the hospital."

The doctor knelt down to look the little girl in the eyes. "Sweetie, you know you don't have to lie to protect him. He can't hurt you here."

_What!?! This is unbelievable!!!_ Kakashi tightened his fist. He was just about ready to knock the man out for his wild accusations.

"I have no reason to protect him. I don't even know him." Kara smiled. "Everything was an accident." _That could have been avoided if I had only gotten up when the Hokage wanted me to, now that I think about it. _"Now, can you please stitch up my arm? It's feeling rather uncomfortable."

Kara's smile had a degree of honesty that the doctor couldn't deny. "All right then. It was an accident. Now, let's fix up that arm." He led her back into the room, the remaining two out in the hall following behind. The nurse pushed her way past the ninja with a rude sneer that was answered with a cold stare.

Ten minutes later, Kara was all bandaged up and very sleepy because of some pills the doctor insisted she take for the pain. "Do make sure she gets home. She needs her rest." The doctor patted Kakashi on the shoulder as he and Kara walked out of the hospital.

Kara turned and started to walk away. "Goodbye, and thank you for getting me help… despite that fact that it was your fault I got hurt." She giggled and yawned at the same time.

"Wasn't my fault." Kakashi corrected her, before walking after her. "Where are you going?" Her steps faltered and he took her hand.

Kara yawned again, only more deeply. "Home. Sanii Apartments." She raised her bandaged arm and pointed to the east. "Sunny, sunny, Sanii, sunny…", she slurred and laughed at herself. "Gosh, I'm really sleepy." Kara shook her head and tried to wake herself up. It didn't work very well.

Kakashi sighed, reached down and lifted her up into his arms. "Come on then. Let's get you home." The child instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes.

Another quick teleportation and they were at her building. Before he could even ask, Kara started giving him directions with her eyes still closed. "Straight, four flights of stairs, twenty paces, door on the left."

"How do you do that?" He carried her, the distance.

"Boredom plus photographic memory." She was currently counting his steps and when he arrived at her door, she held tighter, not wanting to walk the 13.5 steps to her bed. "Look up."

He did, and there her saw a key set precariously on the ledge of the door frame. "That's not safe."

"Bah, safety." She snickered as he opened the door and took her inside. He even went so far as to tuck her in. "You know, you're a nice guy… really creepy, but nice." She rolled over and fell asleep.

_It's a start, I suppose._ He left and headed home. _I know one thing though… Pakkun better hide, cause when I get home I'm gonna kick his ass._

* * *

**Lol, guess who's birthday is November 11th. I kid you not, it's for real! Oh and the apartment complex's name is total b.s. I just typed whatever; I hope it's not anything vulgar. lol. **

**Haha! Third chapter is done! Hope it was up to par with ya'll's expectations. I want Reviews for Christmas!!! (Because there's not gonna be any manga for 2 fucking weeks and I'm pissed off cause I'm gonna be even more bored!!!....) Now that that's out of my system… If ya' have a heart, spread the holiday cheer! If ya' don't have a heart, thank god; we need more Grinches. I'm sick of the sappy, give me some gifts! (tm, lol I like alliteration)**

**Don't forget (my crap attempt at drawing) pictures of Kara are on my deviant account. Link's in my profile.**

**CLICK ME!**


	4. Bulbs and Switches

**(Who'd of thought that writing on another story would make my mind refocus on this one? Illness leads to writer's block. Writer's block leads to a new story. New story leads back to old story. The Circle of Life! …wait, no. That would mean this story is the reason I got sick. That doesn't sound right.)**

**Jiraiya's birthday is November 11th… or at least that's what the Databook says.**

**Think of 'Toru' and 'Ryu' as Thing One and Thing Two from the Dr. Seuss story, The Cat in the Hat. That's how I picture them… only Toru has red hair.**

**YAYS 4 NINKEN! I just wanna hug 'em and squish 'em till they can't breathe no more, they're so cute! (Yes, I wrote in a retarded fashion here on purpose… at least I didn't say 'kawaii')**

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Chapter 4: Bulbs and Switches

"Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, Oh no!" Kara was running full speed to school this morning. The pills the doctor gave her the night before put her out to the point she slept through her alarm and three of the fifteen minute reminder rings. "I'm late, I'm late, gosh darn it! Please don't be mad sensei!"

When she finally arrived, she tried to quietly slide open the door to the classroom and sneak to her seat, but just as she crossed the threshold of the door, her classmate Lee shouted out. "Kara! I didn't think you were coming today!" His smiling face alerting the entire class to her late appearance.

Her head sunk down. _I do not want to kill him. I do not want to kill him._ She repeated her mantra over and over.

"Ms. Harada, why are you walking in late to my class?" Her sensei glared at her along with the rest of the class that would have to listen to his irritating lecture about tardiness, should she not come up with a good excuse.

Kara's eyes caught sight of the bandages still wrapped around her injuries. "I was in the hospital." She piped up with an earnest expression on her face.

"Oh, what happened?" The sensei's genuine concern was obvious. Kara just brushed it off as she glided over to her usual seat next to Hyuuga Neji.

"Nothing too bad, I suppose." She winced on purpose as she sat down for theatrical effect. "You should see the other guy."

"Well, I'm glad that my teachings have gone to good use for you!" The man smiled and continued on with his lesson.

Kara sighed and leaned back in her seat, content if only for the moment. Neji leaned back as well and whispered to her, "You're lying."

"Says who?" Her eyes shifted to look at him without drawing attention to herself.

"Your arm has a small bite mark on it, not cuts or bruises. What did you do, get in a fight with a puppy?"

The young girl reached over and held her bandaged arm defensively. "You know, it incredibly invasive of you to use your Byakugan on me." She huffed, "And it wasn't a puppy. It was a trained ninken pit bull. I'm lucky to have survived."

He scoffed at her dramatic description and rolled his eyes, before returning his attention to the lecture.

--

A few hours later as Kara walked out of the classroom, she was confronted by her 'oh so' familiar childhood influences… only, by this point in time the group of four boys had been whittled down to just two. Upon catching sight of them, she turned to go back and wait it out inside the classroom until they left. But of course, life's not that wonderfully avoidable.

"Hey, Kara-chan!" The one with blue hair, known as Ryu, called out to her. "Where're ya' going?"

_Don't turn around. Don't pay any attention to them. Don't answer them._, her inner conscience kept warning her to no avail. Kara turned halfway and responded. "I was just going to get a drink of water. What does it matter to you?"

Ryu, and his red-haired friend Toru, ran up on either side of her. "Well, we wanted to do some throwing practice with you."

Kara recalled the day's lesson in class. It was about the proper technique to throw shuriken and kunai. She scored a 22/50; not the best, but certainly not the worst. She knew what the two boys really wanted. They wanted to humiliate her, but in a way that wouldn't get them in trouble. Yes, the two had evolved from physical tormentors to psychological ones.

"So? What do ya' say?" Toru hooked her left arm with his.

Ryu mimicked his friend's actions with Kara's right arm. "Yea. How about it? Think you can beat us?"

_Don't agree to this. They're stupid. It's not a good idea._, Kara's inner voice again advised her, but old habits die hard. "…yea, alright. But just for a little while."

"Fantastic!" Ryu sinisterly exalted, dragging the eleven year old girl to the Academy's training grounds. There were three target-marked posts for the students to practice their skills on; each a further distance than the previous one. 50 feet, 150 feet and 300 feet… for the most advanced.

Toru dumped a small sack full of sharp weapons on the ground and stood back, gesturing for Kara to go first. She restlessly ran a hand through her bangs before sighing and picking up a shuriken with her right hand. "Here goes nothing." She mumbled and threw the throwing star at the target fifty feet away. It struck in the third ring from the center.

"Oooo, tough luck Kara-chan." Ryu patted her shoulder consolingly. The boy reached down and picked up a kunai and also threw it at the fifty foot target. His throw struck on the outer edge of the first ring from the center. "Ha! Yes!" He cheered, smiling brightly at Kara's bored stare.

"One side, one side." Toru spread out his arms in an expressive fashion. "Now to show the both of ya'll how it's done." The ginger boy threw his weapon, striking just barely inside the center circle. He appeared to be just as stunned as the other two that he had gotten so close to the center of the target.

The two boys started cheering for each other's success over the raven-haired girl. "Oh hey, Kara-chan.", Ryu grabbed her left arm. She flinched at the pressure. "Why don't you try throwing with your left?"

"It's injured. I can't imagine it'd be any better than my right." The azure-haired boy stared at her with daring eyes. "Fine." She picked up a kunai and held it over her head, as if she were about to pitch a baseball; a completely inefficient and flawed technique.

A kunai struck in the center on the fifty foot target. "Wha-What the hell?!" Ryu and Toru's jaws dropped. "How the hell did you do that?!" They stuttered in disbelief.

Kara tightened the grip her left hand had on the kunai. "I didn't." The three children turned around to see a tall, silver-haired man standing over them. _This is too freakin' weird. What is he doing here?!_

"Don't you boys have anything better to do than mess with an injured girl?" The man asked.

The two boys looked back and forth at each other, before Ryu spoke up. "Uh, yea sure. My mom wanted me to, uh… pull some weeds for her. Come on Toru." They ran off, wary of making the man any more upset with them.

Kara stared at Kakashi blankly before turning away from him shaking her head back and forth.

"What? No, 'Gee, thanks for getting rid of those losers.'" He walked over around to her side and tried to get her to look at him.

The young girl pinched the bridge of her nose. "There are so many questions running through my mind at the moment that I don't know what to ask first." She took a breath and looked up at him. "How's this one? What are you doing here?"

The man looked at her with a hurt expression. "Well, I was walking by and I saw that one brat grab your arm." He crossed his arms across his chest. "You know, I went to a lot of trouble to make sure you got that arm treated and I guess I just didn't want to have to take you back to the hospital again."

Kara pursed her lips together, deciding to accept the explanation. "That was very considerate of you, but I can take care of myself. Besides, we wouldn't want you to go to jail for child abuse." She started laughing at her own joke as she knelt down to pick up the scattered weaponry.

"Maybe you ought to be a comedian." Kakashi watched her.

"Why's that? I'm not that funny." She glanced up at him with a wide grin on her face.

"Yea, I know. But your aim isn't any better." He nodded toward the target posts.

Kara's grin faded to an unimpressed frown. She stood back up straight with three throwing stars in her injured left hand. "My aim is perfect." Without losing eye contact with him, she threw the deadly weapons at the three targets; each one striking dead center of their intended destination. "See?"

"I do see." The Jounin was pleasantly surprised with her skill. _For a second there, I was sure she had no talent whatsoever._ "So… why'd you miss before?"

Kara returned to picking up the weapons. "I don't want the attention or the expectations." She stood up and set the ninja tools on a nearby bench. "If I threw like that in front of my sensei, then he would make me do more advanced work. Like more difficult targets and helping out losers, like Ryu and Toru, learn how to throw properly."

"It's not good to be scared of a little hard work." The two of them walked out to the front of the school.

"I'm not 'scared' of work. I'd just rather avoid it." She crossed her arms and looked up at him. "It's like rabid dog bites. I'd much rather not get them, but sometimes it can't be helped."

"Come on." He grabbed her shoulder and began to lead her down the street.

"Huh? Where're we going?" Kara wiggled out of his grasp and turned to face him.

"Well, you're clearly not going to just let this whole 'my dog bit you' thing go. So, I'm going to make them apologize to you, particularly Pakkun." Kakashi offered her his hand. The young girl stared at it apprehensively. She still didn't really know this guy after all. But catching a glimpse of Ryu and Toru hiding in an alleyway, clearly waiting for the man to abandon her, convinced her that taking the strange man's hand would be worth the risk.

With a defeated sigh, Kara took his hand. "You know, I still find you relatively creepy, Hatake-san."

"I'm used to that assessment by now." He chuckled. "But quit with 'Hatake-san'. It makes me sound like an old man. My name's Kakashi."

"How old are you," Kara paused for effect. "Kakashi-san?"

He thought for a moment as they walked. "Too young to be called Hatake-san."

_That's not an answer…_, Kara's inner voice grumbled.

--

"Alright you maggots, listen up!" Pakkun marched back and forth in front of the dogs like an Army general. "Because of that little stunt you all pulled yesterday, we are in big trouble." One of the dogs motioned as if to speak up. "I don't wanna hear your excuses!" The little pug snapped at him. "We could debate all day about 'whose fault it was', but one fact remains the same! Kara doesn't like us and we need to change that."

"But how?" The biggest dog, timidly spoke up.

Pakkun jumped up on a stump in the backyard they were in and smirked at the group. "You are all very lucky to have geniuses like Master Kakashi and I working on this problem. Now then, when Kara gets here you are all going to be on your best behavior. I want 'puppy dog' eyes on all of you, I want you rolling over on your backs and I want those cute little whimpers to make her pay attention to you." He jumped back down to inspect the troops. "Where are your toys?"

The dogs pulled out a plethora of knives, exploding tags and other deadly items.

"Wha-What is this!?" The disgruntled pug covered his eyes with his paw. "I said 'toys' not weapons!"

"These are toys for us." The medium-sized dog's simple explanation was followed by nods and yelps of agreement from his fellow canines.

Pakkun walked forward and took one of the kunai from the ground and held it up to the smart-ass dog's throat. "Does this look like fun, cute and cuddly to you?" He spat with the kunai still in his mouth.

"Pakkun!" Kakashi grabbed the small dog by the scruff of his neck. "What do you think you're doing?" He whispered loudly at the canine, clearly upset over the dog's overly aggressive behavior.

Kara peered out from behind the man to get a good look at the other dogs. Her heart instantly melted at the sight of them. They all looked unbelievably sweet with their giant, tear-lined eyes sparkling in the light and the adorable expressions of curiosity and playfulness that radiated from their precious little faces. "Ah! Oh my gosh!" The little girl rushed forward and hugged the dog closest to her; the same one that previously had Pakkun at his throat. "You poor thing! That mutt is mean to you guys too, huh?"

The light bulbs above their heads were almost visible. In an instant, the dogs moved closer to the girl with their heads down in an attempt to look as pathetic as possible.

Pakkun raised an eyebrow at his master. "You were saying?"

Kakashi's hardened glare softened when he looked down at the little girl with all of the dogs surrounding her. She smiled brightly as each of the different ninken vied for her attention. Their sloppy kisses and mischievous jumps making her giggle with delight. It was so cute, it was sick.

"Excuse me." A cat masked ANBU cleared his throat as he approached the group. "The Hokage wishes to see you, sempai."

Kara had just clambered on top of the large mastiff. "Hey there, Kitty-man!" She smiled with glee.

The soldier instantly lost his cool. "For the thousandth time, do not call me that! My name is Tenzou you irritating little bra- a… uh…" He remembered who he was standing in front of. "uh-dorable… thing… you." Kara giggled at his sudden, and awkward, change of heart. He centered himself before daring to look at his superior again.

"What was it that you needed Tenzou?" Kakashi didn't actually care about any insult the man had attempted to throw at Kara. A grown man getting upset at a little girl is just pathetic.

Tenzou took a deep breath. "You know what? I'm not so sure anymore." His hands planted themselves on his hips while his head shook back and forth in denial. "Hokage-sama said he wanted to talk to you and you live really far away from the center of town. But then he told me to take my time and now I'm starting to think that maybe he doesn't like me being around him. I just don't get it. I thought I was good at my job."

"You are good at your job. You're the best I know." The copy-ninja patted him on the shoulder consolingly, though it could have easily been condescendingly. "You're just being paranoid. Everyone likes you."

"Yea." Kara had gotten the dog she was riding to walk forward, next to the messenger. "I like you just fine."

"Then why do you call me names, huh?" Even though it couldn't be seen, he pouted.

The little girl just giggled again at his childish behavior. "When a child likes someone, they pick on them. It's part of a phase that I'm required to go through. But don't worry. I promise the second you stop wearing your cat mask, I'll stop calling you Kitty."

"Ugh…" Tenzou turned to walk away, but stopped short to call over his shoulder at Kakashi. "I'm still pretty sure he wanted to see you briefly."

"Right." Kakashi hesitated for a moment before looking back at Kara. She spoke before he had the chance.

"I can watch your dogs for you while you're gone, if you want."

His eye squinted in a smile. "I was just going to ask you that." He readjusted Pakkun in his arms. "I'll take Pakkun with me. We shouldn't be gone long."

"Not a problem." Kara grinned from her seat atop the large dog. "Bye!" Tenzou and Kakashi, with Pakkun cradled in his arms, left.

--

"Your niece is weird, sempai." Tenzou scratched his head. The nails doing the scratching were almost instantly forced into his skull by a solid smack to the back of the head. "Ack! What the hell was that for?!"

"Don't mention that." Kakashi withdrew his hand.

The ANBU gave him a confused glare. "What? The fact that you just abused me or the fact that Kara is a weird kid?"

Kakashi dropped Pakkun to the ground and shoved his hands into his pockets. "That she's my niece.", he grumbled. "Who else knows?"

"I dunno. Me, the Hokage… Is it a secret?" The light switch inside his head turned on. "Oh my god. Does Kara even know?" His question was met with minimal response. Tenzou slid his mask off and forced Kakashi to look at him. "Why the hell does she not know?"

"Because I haven't told her… yet. And put your mask back on. You're still on duty."

Tenzou did as he was told, but was still quite clearly upset with the other man. "You haven't told her… why?"

With an angry furrow of his eyebrows, he answered the unwarranted question. "Because I haven't had the right opportunity. When the moment comes, I'll tell her. Now drop it and don't mention it ever again."

"Calm down, sempai." He held Kakashi's shoulder. "Let me just say one thing here. If she finds out and you're not the one to tell her, there's gonna be hell to pay."

--

It was dusk when Kakashi and Pakkun got back. They found everyone still in the backyard only they were sprawled out on the ground panting.

Kara's head popped up when she saw the two approaching. "Hey Kakashi-san!" He waved back.

Pakkun had run ahead of his master and stopped short, right in front of the little girl. "What happened?" He asked with concern for his fellow canines.

"Oh we were playing tag earlier." She smiled sweetly. "They're really fast."

"Of course they are. We're the best ninken in Konoha. The Inuzuka's can't hold a paw to our prowess!" The little pug ranted proudly.

Kakashi bent down and scooped the puppy up into his arms. "That's why you're my dogs and not theirs."

"Um… Kakashi-san." Kara stood up, brushing the dirt from her clothes. "If you ever need someone to watch these guys or, I don't know, walk them or something. I could do it for you."

"Walk us? Walk us?! Just hold on one--" Pakkun started, but was stopped by his master's firm grip.

"Sure. I could always use help. They outnumber me eight to one so they can be a handful sometimes."

"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow after school. Good bye Kakashi-san." She turned to the dogs. "Bye guys!" They rolled their tired heads in acknowledgement of her departure and then she left.

Pakkun looked up at Kakashi. "She's coming back tomorrow."

"I know."

"Are you still mad at me for biting her?"

"No, but you're still in trouble."

* * *

**Rokubi: You replaced my ultimate cuteness with those ugly mutts!**

**Jack: No… well… maybe. (gets bit by the 6-tailed little buddy) Ack! No of course not! They're just very manipulative. Besides, would you really want to bother with a girl as 'nice' as Kara?**

**Rokubi: (smiles sinisterly) I could turn her to the dark side.**

**Jack: And that is exactly why I keep you away from her. XD**

**Rokubi: Oh yea… I would have wished my minions a Happy New Year on New Year's, but someone had to get a 'terrible' head-cold and couldn't post this chapter sooner. My apologies for her poor hygiene habits.**

**Jack: I don't have poor hygiene. (walks over to hug the little weasel)**

**Rokubi: Gah! Get away from me you germ infested creatin! (coughs loudly and breaks the fourth wall… again) Review for me, or else I'll succumb to the illness that is 'bum'bum'bum' writer's block! **

**(Don't worry if you don't know who Rokubi is… it's not terribly vital to understanding that I'm insane.)**


	5. The Passage of Time

**The eight ninken's names are as follows: Bull, Pakkun, Shiba, Bisuke, Akino, Guruko, Uhei, Urushi. They all talk and since it's not vital to the story, I'm just gonna make them talk at random w/o describing every time that they are dogs. I will do it occasionally, but in case I don't, just know that these names are the dogs… not people.**

**Holy snaps… this chapter spans a period of about 9 months. (****VERY IMPORTANT! only in this chapter!****) Every (--) is meant to separate different random DAYS from each other. (****Again! This is only for this chapter!****)**

**We've got really episodic moments cumulating with us just about ready to meet her sensei and get to the meat of the story! (But that will actually happen in the next chapter… sry.) Cause god damn it, I want to write some of the other characters already! This is supposed to be SasuxOC but it's like he's missing from the story. I can't help it. Kara's origin is complicated and it seems to be pushing him aside. But don't worry! He is coming. I promise.**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Passage of Time

"Hello?" Kara knocked on the front door of the Hatake household in a manner all too similar to just two days earlier. No answer, she sighed anxiously. "You guys aren't gonna scare me again." She stated, though in her timid state, she may have intended for it to be a question. Some people find the surprise fun and exciting. Kara was not one of those kinds of people. She never liked to be scared. She liked to see whatever it was, coming right at her.

"Hiya Kara-chan!" Guruko shouted out to her from around the side of the house.

She jumped in place before instantly remembering that of course, they were special dogs. "Hey."

"We're in the back. Come on and hurry up. We're playing Scavenger Hunt!" The little dog jumped up and down excitedly. "It's my most favorite game ever!"

"Okay, okay. I'm coming." Kara ran with him to the backyard, only to be stopped short by Kakashi catching her arm. "Oh! Hello, Kakashi-san. I was just--", she gestured to Guruko who had run ahead of her.

"Yea, their playing 'Scavenger Hunt'. You can't play with them." Kara looked at him somewhat confused. "It's too dangerous. We'll wait here for them to finish." He sat down and motioned for her to do the same.

"How's playing a game dangerous?" Kara bluntly asked after several seconds of uncomfortable silence.

"Well," Kakashi raised his finger as if he were about to explain something complicated in a simple manner… only an explosion interrupted him. The little girl gasped and stood to run toward the smoke cloud coming from out of the forest. He reached out and stopped her, pulling her back down to her seat. "That's how."

"They might be hurt!"

"No, they're not."

"But! But! Ugh! What could they possibly be hunting?!" She stopped fussing and looked to the Jounin for answers.

The concern in her eyes made him chuckle. It only upset her more. "They're searching for bombs." He pulled out five different colored exploding tags. "They each have to find one of each color and bring it back to me. The first one to do so wins. Don't tell them but, it's actually training disguised as a game. It's the only way I can get them to practice anything." He was quite proud of himself for being so clever.

Kara's worry only slightly faded. "It's still very dangerous. Maybe if you told them the truth they'd be more careful."

"No. They'd slack off and then get hurt. I think the lie works just fine here." He looked out toward the forest. Pakkun, as usual, was the first to be returning with all five in his mouth.

The little dog dropped the papers at his master's feet. "I win." He stood smugly. Kakashi scratched him behind the ears. "Bisuke almost beat me, but I set off the last blue one he still needed." Pakkun bragged.

"That's cheating." Kara glared at the dog, sure of her self-righteous stance.

"No, it's called competing." The pug turned and stared right back into her eleven year old eyes. "You're going to be a ninja, aren't you? Your enemy isn't going to play fair with you, so you might as well learn it now." There was another explosion in the forest. "Hehehe…. I'm going to go set off some more." He chuckled and ran back to rejoin his canine companions.

Kara brushed her black hair behind her ear and sat with a confused look on her face. "Did I just get schooled on 'How to be a ninja' by a pug?"

"You sure did." The two of them watched as several rapid explosions over took the forest. Now it seemed like the dogs were just trying to blow each other up, since Pakkun had already declared victory. "But he's right, you know." Kakashi got her attention. "Taxi drivers and janitors follow the rules. Ninja lie, cheat, steal and deceive in any way possible. It just goes with the job."

"Well, if that's a rule for being a ninja, then I guess I'm just gonna have to break the rules." She smiled confidently in her logic. If the rule says, break the rules; then that means break the rules, including the one that said to break them.

Kakashi saw what loophole she was playing. "Now you're getting it." _Clever kid._

--

Kara's sensei stood at the front of the classroom explaining the physics behind 'running through the trees'. It was boring. She didn't need an explanation; though she was being force-fed one. She just knew it worked and that's all that mattered. With a tired sigh, she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

"Kara…" Neji, who sat next to her, whispered her name.

"I'm not asleep. I'm just resting my eyes." She readjusted herself, not quite comfortable enough in the wooden chair to fall asleep if she wanted to.

The Hyuuga ignored her answer to an unasked question and continued with what he was going to tell her. "Do you realize that in two more months we will be graduating and you have yet to show any improvement in any subject?" In a show of maturity, the girl shrugged her shoulders apathetically. "You should take your studies more seriously."

"I learn plenty all the time." Kara was referring to all the times she had spent with Kakashi and his ninken. Hanging out with such experienced people, she had soaked up a lot of knowledge and skills. The previous week, after months of exclusion from the activity, Kakashi had finally allowed her to play 'Scavenger Hunt' with the dogs. She didn't win, but that was because she spent the entire game making sure Pakkun didn't win either. You have to admit, blowing things up can be really fun.

"Your test scores beg to differ." The boy growled in frustration at the raven-haired girl and her lack of concern or interest in the matter.

Kara caught the aggravation in his voice. She sat up straight and looked over her shoulder to face him. "Hey, look… You and I have sat next to each other for four or five years now and you have never gotten after me like this before. What's the big deal?"

He was silent for a moment. "I have a sinking suspicion that you and I will be assigned to the same team and I don't want talentless losers dragging me down with them."

The audacity of his statement caught her off guard. Neji had never been mean to her before, but here he was, calling her out as a talentless loser. She tried to suppress the sarcastic urge that the female gender tend to rely upon, but it came out just the same. "Well, should you be so lucky as to be graced with my presence on your team, I promise not to hold you back." Kara huffed and turned back to face the front.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it." He replied without a hint of his previously sour sentence. "But that means, you have been purposely doing a mediocre job in class and choosing to train at home instead." Her eyes widened at the mention of extraneous training.

"No one ever accused you of being slow." Kara smirked, somewhat off put that he could see through her ruse so easily.

Neji continued to speak to her. "Someone must be helping you for you to be so confident in your abilities. Who is it?"

"Don't worry about it, Neji-kun." She didn't want anyone to know that she spent most of her afternoons with a creepy old guy and his dogs; running errands, playing games and the occasional chore or two. They just wouldn't understand.

"Kara! Are you interrupting my lecture again?" The class's sensei scolded her, having finally heard her voice over his own.

"No sensei." She sat still with an angel's expression on her face.

"Alright then, if you would please stand up and summarize what I just finished saying, I'll believe you." He set down the chalk in his hand and crossed his arms, waiting for her to start.

Kara stood, but all that came out was "Ummm…"

--

It was late evening. The streetlights were slowly starting to flicker on as Kara walked home. Every day she passed by him. He was always the same; just sitting by the entrance to the Uchiha compound. She had heard people in the street talk about how he still lived there by himself and how they wondered why he didn't leave. Kara knew why. He loved it there. It was the one place where he felt loved and even though the people were gone, the memories of their affection remained.

However, as the years went by, Kara could sense a change in him. The memories of his family were being slowly replaced by the one memory of his brother. He used to look at her with sad eyes as she walked by. The sadness in them gradually faded into complacency which soon gave way to an almost hollow stare. It was only in the last few months that she saw the beginnings of hatred in his eyes. It wasn't directed at her, but instead at something sitting far off in his mind.

Regardless, she would always smile at him. He never smiled back, but then… would he be Uchiha Sasuke if he did?

--

"Whoa-oh-oh-oh! For the longest time." Kara sat on the kitchen table, swinging her feet as she sang. "If you said goodbye to me tonight, there would still be music left to write…" She fell to just humming the tune.

Kakashi was walking through the house looking for his ANBU mask. It'd been awhile since he last needed it and he was certain that one of the dogs had used it as a frisbee. He had been asked to go on a 'very important' mission, one he couldn't refuse; even though he really wanted and needed to. Just a day earlier, Akino and Shiba got into a fight. The result was that Shiba was unconscious with a semi-serious concussion and Akino had a broken front right leg. Luckily, Kara was free to watch the house and the dogs for him.

There was a quick succession of knocks at the door. "Kara, could you get that?" The silver-haired man shouted as he dug under the couch, still looking for his mask.

"I'm the voice you're hearing in the hall. And the greatest miracle of all…" Kara skipped over to the front door, still singing, and answered it. "Oh, hey there Kitty-Man." She grinned widely, showing him inside.

"You're a hurtful child." Tenzou lifted his mask just enough to be seen by someone of her short stature.

"Whoa! Tenzou? When did you get here?" She continued to joke with him as she clambered back atop the kitchen table.

He rolled his eyes and walked away from her, toward the living room. "Sempai, you're running late… again… for the hundredth time."

Kakashi stood back up, ripping a persistent dust bunny from his hair. "I'm not that late." He walked past his fellow ANBU and into his bedroom for another round of searching.

Kara continued to sit peacefully in the kitchen by herself, swinging her legs to and fro, when Guruko came plodding into the kitchen. "Hey Kara-chan. Guess who I am." He sat down in front of her with a white and red ANBU mask covering his small face.

She instantly broke into a fit of laughter after realizing what she was looking at. "Oh my gosh! You're just too adorable!" Still laughing, she scooped him up into her arms and carried him to where the two older men were. "Kakashi-san, look!" She held the small dog up, displaying his little cosplay. "It's a little ANBU version on you. Isn't he cute?"

Tenzou stifled his laughter at the sight. "Looks just like you, sempai." He snorted out.

"He's just precious, Kara." Kakashi ignored the comparisons of him to a dog and popped the mask off of Guruko's face.

Tenzou made his way out the door, shouting over his shoulder. "Great. Let's go already. I'm sure the others are sick of waiting."

Kakashi rolled his eye at the brunette's impatience. "Alright." He knelt down to Kara's level. "Shiba is still out of it, should he wake up be sure to give him some aspirin and not the ibuprofen. He'll ask for it, but don't give in. Akino is sleeping too, but keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't roll over onto his leg. He can't put any pressure on it. He also shouldn't try walking, so if he wakes up, don't let him walk around. The rest of them can take care of themselves. It's nighttime already and they usually sleep through the night. In case something does go wrong, just get Pakkun. He'll know what to do."

For the entire lecture, Kara just stood quietly with a bored, irritated look on her face and an antsy little puppy struggling around in her arms. "I'm twelve years old, Kakashi-san. I think I can manage babysitting." She set Guruko down. His fussing was undermining her confident statement.

"I know you can." He nodded and stood up, slowly making his way to the door. "I should be back sometime early tomorrow morning. Just be careful. Don't climb anything. Don't light any candles. And lock the door after I leave."

"Yes, Kakashi-san." Kara obediently responded, assuring him that she knew how to handle herself. She followed him to the door and waved goodbye, locking the door behind him. With a deep yawn, she leaned back against the heavy front door and looked down at Guruko.

"I'm sleepy." The puppy lazily scratched his ear.

Kara picked him up off the ground and carried him to the living room. "I bet you are. Everyone else is already asleep except us. Why don't we join them?" She stretched out on the couch, placing Guruko against her stomach. The two of them quickly fell asleep.

Sometime around four in the morning, Kara woke up. She had that sudden feeling that something was looking at her. Staring her in the face was Akino standing on three legs. "I'm thirsty." The temporarily handicapped dog flatly stated.

"… huh? Oh, m'kay." Very carefully, so as not to disturb Guruko's slumber, the raven-haired girl slid off the couch and made her way to the kitchen with Akino hopping after her.

Still wiping the sleep from her eyes, Kara grabbed a large glass from the cabinet and filled it with water. She took a sip from the glass before walking over to Akino's empty water bowl, kneeling down and pouring the remaining contents into it. The dog drank the water as Kara watched, patiently waiting for him to finish.

"Kara-chan…" He looked up at her. She raised her eyebrows in a silent response. The dog paused, considering what the consequences of what he was going to say. You see, he, along with Guruko, Uhei and Urushi, had the belief that Kara should be told the truth about her family. But of course, Kakashi's word was law and to blatantly tell her would make him very upset with them. Put plainly, it wasn't an option. But other things could be done. Other truths could come to light without them getting in trouble. "Want to see something really interesting?"

The twelve year old shrugged her shoulders. She was on the tired side, but was already awake and would probably not be able to fall back asleep easily. "Sure. Why not?" She reached up and set the glass in her hands, up on the counter.

"Follow me." The dog hobbled forward and led her to Kakashi's bedroom.

"Oh, no. Wait, Akino-kun. I don't think we should go in there." Kara stopped in the doorway as he continued to make his way to the dresser.

"Nonsense. It'll be fine. Come and see." Akino bit down on the bottom drawer's handle and began tugging away, trying, pitifully, to open it.

Kara fidgeted about. Akino's reckless invasion of privacy was very upsetting to her. "Stop it, Akino." She called lightly from the doorway. "I wouldn't want anyone digging around in my things without permission. It's not right."

He had finally managed to open the drawer. The dog knew exactly what he was looking for and very quickly dug out a red cloth and dropped it on the ground. It made a slight 'clink' sound. Something of a decent weight was wrapped inside of it. Akino looked over at Kara from his place in the dark room. "You have to put it back because I'm not going to."

Her pained expression was visible even in the poor lighting of the hallway. "Fine.", she snapped and rushed into the room. Just as she reached down to grab the red bundle, Akino bit the corner of the fabric and exposed the metal shards that lay beneath. Kara's bare hand made contact and in an instant, a glow emanated from them. The poor girl gasped and fell back in shock. The fear and wonder in her blue eyes was exactly the result the dog had wanted to achieve.

"I told you it was really interesting." He sat still waiting for her to respond.

"What… what is it?" Kara hesitantly asked; her eyes glued to the glowing white metal.

Akino pushed the cloth and its contents closer to the girl with his snout. "It's a special kind of metal that shines when someone with special chakra touches it."

The girl's gaze shifted over to the dog and hardened. "This was very bad of you Akino-kun." The sheer awe she had felt only moments before had been out shined by the glare of indecency this intrusion created in her mind. Kara deftly rewrapped the metal shards in their red cradle and placed them back in the drawer. "Let's get out of here before--", she was cut off by the sound of the front door unlocking.

"Oooo…" Akino's eyes grew as large as Kara's. "Help me, Kara." He hobbled forward enough for her to grab him and carry him out of the room. The two managed to make it to the kitchen before the door opened.

Kakashi walked in and almost walked past without noticing them sitting on the kitchen floor. "Morning." He cleared his throat after an all-nighter. Besides a few scratches on his arm and a small crack in his ANBU mask, he looked relatively unharmed. Mission must have gone well.

Kara was about to smile and return his greeting when it struck her. Her eyes ducked down and to her left. _I left the drawer open._ Akino noticed the sudden paling of her cheeks and responded to his master's greeting. "Good morning, Kakashi."

The man took off the porcelain mask and continued toward his room. "You shouldn't be up Akino. Go back to bed."

"Sure thing." The dog called after him, then turned back to look at Kara. "Kara." She didn't respond. The poor dear was running scenarios through her mind; trying to come up with an excuse that wouldn't get either her or Akino in trouble. "Kara don't worry. It'll be fine. Kakashi is secretive yes, but he's not that possessive. He'll get over it quickly."

"So he will be mad?" She mumbled, barely moving her eyes to acknowledge what Akino had been telling her.

Kakashi walked back into the kitchen, stopping in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. It was obvious that he knew what the two of them had been up to. Akino hobbled past him. "I'm going. I'm going." The dog muttered, glancing up at the man. He paused and looked back at Kara sitting in the kitchen. She had her eyes down and was digging away at the cuticle of her thumb. The dog looked back at his master, giving him those sad, puppy eyes; non-verbally telling him not to blame her or get upset with her.

"Kara." She immediately looked up when Kakashi called her name. "Come on." He nodded for her to follow him. "You go back to bed, now." He pointed Akino in the opposite direction.

As she followed the silver-haired man, Kara blurted out her carefully crafted apology. "I'm sorry Kakashi-san. I shouldn't have let Akino convince me to go into your room. It was wrong and I'm sorry."

"Knowing that dog, he probably forced you more than convinced you." He glanced back at her as he flicked on the light to his room. "Besides, I'm sure I would have shown you what was in there eventually." Kara sat on the edge of the bed and waited patiently as her picked up the cloth bundle from the open drawer and sat next to her. Kakashi unwrapped the cloth allowing the girl to see what was inside. In the better lighting, she could tell that it was the broken remains of a weapon now. "Go ahead. Touch it." He assured her.

A small smile crossed her face as she reached forward and touched one of the shards. The mysterious glow did nothing short but enthrall her. "Akino said it was a special kind of metal."

"Yea, it is." _It only reacts to chakra from someone of the Hatake clan._, he thought regretfully. "It was my father's."

Kara removed her hand. "Oh, it was your dad's?" She felt another wave of guilt pass over her.

"He left it to me… and I broke it." The man sighed dejectedly. "It was all I had left of him, so I decided to keep the pieces. All it does is sit there in that drawer, though."

"I think I know how you feel." Kara began picking at the edges of her fingers again. It was her signature nervous habit. "You want to keep it because it reminds you of him, but you still can't bear to look at it… Almost like it's something you're supposed to forget about." Kakashi looked down at the little girl tearing away at her cuticles. She was on the verge of making them bleed so he reached out and stopped her, holding her two small hands in his one. Kara looked up and the concern in his eyes was enough to constitute a question of 'why'. She took a breath to calm herself. "I have this letter."

"Letter?" He blurted out before he censor himself.

"Yea. This old lady gave it to me when I was five… maybe six. I don't really remember. She said that it was from my family." Kara shook her head back and forth, trying to shake away the painful part of the memory. "Heh, she must not have been all that smart because you should never say something like that to a six year old orphan."

"What did it say?" Again, Kakashi couldn't stop himself from questioning her. Kara looked back up at him, smiled that trusting smile of her's and shrugged her shoulders. "What does that mean?" He pressed further.

"It means 'I don't know'." The raven-haired child giggled at the confusion in his voice. "I never opened it. Just like you keep those pieces of metal in that drawer; I keep my letter under my mattress. I almost never look at it, but I've never forgotten that it's there."

With a sigh of both relief and disappointment, Kakashi rewrapped the memento and tossed it back in it's drawer. "Aren't you curious?"

Kara stood back up, stretching her arms high above her head. "Not really. Why would I want to know about people who are dead… or worse, they're still alive but they just didn't want me?" That last part left the Jounin silent. "Well, since you're home now, I should probably head back to my place. I've got a big day starting in a few hours."

He followed her out of the room. "What's happening today?" He yawned and opened the front door for her.

"I get to meet my sensei today. I sure hope it's not some workaholic. I'm not really a 'get up and go' type of person." Kara ran a hand through her hair and looked back at Kakashi still in the doorway staring at her. "Oh! I didn't tell you, did I?" He continued to stare blankly with one sleepy eye. "I graduated yesterday." The twelve year old pulled her headband from her pocket and showed it off proudly. "It must have slipped my mind.", she laughed. "Bye Kakashi-san. I'll see you around."

The silver-haired man waved goodbye and shut the door behind her. _Her sensei… well, I know it's not me. Hn._ He shrugged his shoulders in apathy and headed off to sleep the morning away.

* * *

**So we finally get to know what happened to Kara's letter! **

**The song Kara was singing is 'The Longest Time' by Billy Joel. It just matches her personality perfectly right? Oh boy, I use a lot of big-kid words in this one. And I wasn't cheating with Word's thesaurus, either! **

**FYI and Heads Up ya'll, the title of the next chapter is 'Gai' So if that gives you any clues as to what it's going to revolve around… I wonder what he'll be like. (lol, that was sarcasm)**


	6. Gai

**Screw it… I'm just gonna tell ya'll the differences in time between the (--) ……sorry, it's just been an issue with me, I'll get over it. Also this chapter in incredibly long for one reason and one reason only: There's no long episodic plot in it. Just a bunch of little tales building up to the start of the story. (grr… if only I didn't firmly believe in character development.)**

**I couldn't resist adding a Sasuke cameo, lol. What Kara says, is exactly what I said after writing the scene. O_o Lots of humor in this one… or at least my attempt at the genre. Lol, Gai is such a wonderfully malleable character!**

…**whoa… I did not see this frightfully aggressive relationship between Kara and Neji. It just happened while I was typing. But, I like it and am going to run with it! Kara needs some competition to bring out her own talents!**

**FYI: Guruko is the ninken that kinda looks like Naruto. That's why I like using him so much.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Gai

Kara stretched her arms out high above her head as she lay out along the balcony where she and her two teammates were supposed to meet their new sensei. "Hey, Lee." She propped her forearms under her head for support. "Wake me up when this guy gets here."

"Kara-chan! How can you be sleepy at a moment like this?!" The bushy-browed boy was utterly shocked at her current state. "We are about to meet our Jounin sensei and you would rather take a nap!"

"Chill out.", she yawned. "I got up really early this morning, so I'm a little tired. Of course I'm interested in who it's going to be."

Neji, her other remaining teammate, turned his attention to her as well. "Oh? And why is it that you were up so early this morning?"

"She was excited!" Lee defended her, though she wasn't exactly attacked in the first place.

Kara chuckled with her eyes closed. "Yea… excited for today. Let's go with that one."

"So you are my three new pupils…" A deep, undeniably masculine, voice sounded in front of them. Instantly, Kara sat up straight with her teammates, only to catch sight of a large reptilian creature.

"Oh, it's a turtle." Lee sat amazed at the curious sight.

Neji stared at it with a raised eyebrow. "It's too big. It might be a tortoise."

"What you both fail to realize here," the young girl elaborated. "Is that it can talk." The reptile nodded after her comment. Kara sighed and held her forehead in her hand. "Whatever happened to the good 'ol days when human beings were the only species to have mastered speech?" She knelt down to the same level as the creature. "Are you seriously our sensei? Cause I don't know if I could be taught by a turtle."

"Tortoise." Lee corrected her.

She rolled her eyes and altered her previous statement. "I don't know if I could be taught by anything that's not warm-blooded."

"HaHa!" A giant cloud of smoke appeared above the turtle/tortoise. As it dissipated, a man in a very questionable pose became visible. "You are going to make a very interesting student, young lady! Such youthfulness to question authority like that!"

Slowly and in a manner similar to backing away from a rabid Chihuahua, she sat herself back down in between her teammates. Kara and Neji were in a state of shock and mental anguish at the sight, while Lee seemed to have 'seen the light'. "Um… well, I don't think I was questioning your authority so much as I was questioning… your… orientation." Kara bit down on the inside of her mouth so that she wouldn't laugh out loud. Neji caught her insult and jabbed her in the side. "What?" She snickered at him. The slur went over both Lee and their new sensei's head, so the two of them ignored her odd remark.

"Now then!" The tall bushy-browed and green-clad man stood expressively before the three youths. "I am Maito Gai and I'm going to guide you through life's fantastic journey to becoming the best ninja in Konoha!"

_Oh god, I am so glad no one is here to see this. How embarrassing! This guy is such a spaz!_ Kara did her best to wipe the awkward look off her face. She looked to either side to get a rough judgment on how her teammates were coping. Neji's face was stoic and impassive, while Lee… well, he looked like he had seen God and was on the verge of tears. She decided that it would all be for the best if she let go of her preconceptions and just go along for the ride.

--One week later--

The jolly green giant, also known as Gai, led his students out for their regular schedule of training. "Alright my youthful little globs of clay from which I shall mold superior fighting machines, let's get to work!" Kara and Neji winced at his 'descriptive' manner of speech. "We are going to run 500 laps around the city wall. On your mark… get set…"

"Wait, just hold on one moment there, Gai -sensei." Kara raised her hand and walked around in front of him. She tilted her head to the side, causing her bangs to cover her left eye completely. "Don't you think that's a pretty tall order for a bunch of kids fresh out of the Academy? I mean, we were only running an average of fifty laps around the park and now you want us to do five-hundred around the entire village?"

He stared at her like he was trying to remember where he had seen her before. Very slowly he raised his hand in front of her so as to block his view of the bottom half of her face. She had stopped talking and was staring back at him with a disturbed, concerned look in her eyes. "Hmmm…?" Gai pondered on why she looked so gosh darn familiar all of a sudden.

Kara poked his open hand with her finger. "Um, Gai-sensei? Are you alright?"

"Fine! Just fine, my little caterpillar." He snatched her hand, pulling her up to his height. "What was your name again?"

"Ha-ra-da… Ka-ra" She enunciated each syllable carefully, too stunned by his sudden action to think twice about answering him. "Why? Is something wrong?" Panic slowly sunk into her voice.

"No, no, no." He laughed, setting her back down. "Nothing's wrong, provided you're not scared of a little hard work." His raised eyebrow and shining smile were no match for the miniature rant that was to come from the child.

With a huff and a cross of her arms she elaborated her stance on the topic. "I'm not scared of hard work. I'd just rather not. I can do it; I just don't really want to cause I don't see the point in pushing ourselves that hard. It's like getting sick. I'd rather avoid it, but sometimes it can't be helped. "

"Okay then." Gai piped up happily. "Consider these five hundred laps that can't be helped. On your mark, get set, go!" He started running, pushing the three children ahead of himself. It did not take long for Neji and Kara to realize just how freaky it would look if some bystander saw them. If they wanted to avoid the embarrassment of the situation, they would have to run on their own; which they did as quickly as possible.

Lee was already ahead of the group. "Dear lord, why does he look so graceful and happy?" Kara panted next to Neji.

Gai burst in and answered her. "That's because he has the natural stamina of youth behind him! Haha! Go faster Lee!", he shouted.

Upon the completion of the two hundredth and twelfth lap, Kara couldn't hack it anymore. "I'm taking a break!" She used the last of her energy to shout her resolution in her sensei's face and throw herself under the nearest tree. "Go on without me!"

"Okay, Kara-chan. We'll be back for you in five laps." Gai was in a cheerful mood; must have been the endorphins from the exercise. "Onward boys!" He picked up the pace. Lee squealed joyfully while Neji just shot Kara a 'I am so going to kill you in your sleep' look.

_Pft. Dumb Neji. If he wanted a break he should just take one, like me, and not make faces. I'm tired gosh darn it!_ As Kara laid there in the grass, with the cool breeze helping to lower her heart rate, she heard the sound of grass crunching under someone's feet. The speckled shadow of the tree was replaced with the solid shadow of a young boy. "What are you doing here?" The boy's voice sounded mildly demanding.

"Replenishing my cells with much needed oxygen." Kara sat up to get a better look at who was bugging her now. "Oh, uh… hey there Sasuke-kun." She smiled at the sight of that signature glare.

"Hn." He smirked, still looking down on her both literally and metaphorically.

The young brunette gently pulled a stray blade of grass from her hair. "I just didn't feel like running anymore." _Why in the world is he being so mean to me? …wait. Better question; why is he talking to me? He hasn't spoken to me in years! _"And I have a name, you know. It's Kara."

"I know." It seemed that he was starting to lose interest in berating her for no reason. "Why were you running? Having trouble with bullies again?" Sasuke sat down with her, now in a much more acceptable mood.

"… No." Kara tapped the forehead protector that she used as a headband. "I graduated. The running is part of my sensei's training regime." She smiled and waved to her teammates as they ran by. Four more laps and she would have to rejoin them.

"Well that's lazy of you." He crossed his arm haughtily.

Kara's sweet, supportive smile to her teammates morphed into one of false amusement as she turned her attention back to the boy. "Look who's talking. Shouldn't you be in class with all of the other little kids?"

His glare took on a whole new dimension. In truth, he was less than a year younger than her, but because of that, he was a year behind her, education wise. Damn enrollment cutoff dates. "It's lunchtime."

"Seriously?" Kara stood up, brushing a bit of dirt off of her skirt. "Pft. Forget this. I'm gonna go eat." She started to walk away before remembering her manners. "Oh… Did you want to come with me?"

"No." The raven-haired boy walked by her idly and waved bye over his shoulder.

He had left Kara standing there utterly confused. "What was up with that?" She questioned aloud. "Freaky kid, man." Gai and the boys ran by again. Just as before, she waved cheerfully. It was now obvious to her that her sensei adored anyone that embodied happy-go-luckiness, sunshiny-ness and an unending determination to never stop working; cumulatively known as 'youthfulness'. Unfortunately, Kara only slightly had some of that sunshiny stuff in her. "There they go…", she watched them fade away beyond the far wall of the village. "And here I go." The child giggled and took off.

--Six and a half minutes later--

"Ooooh…" Guruko whined as he sat in his backyard. "Kakashiiiiiiii!"

The silver haired man glanced up distractedly. "What?" He was sitting under a tree trying to read his book over the dog's complaining.

The dog kept fidgeting and pawing at the ground. "When is Kara coming to visit again?" The man shrugged his shoulders. "But I miss her!"

"It's only been a week since you last saw her." He turned the page and continued to mostly ignore the canine.

"But what if she never comes back! I'll be so lonely!" Guruko plopped down in the dirt and covered his eyes, crying.

"I'm sure that once her sensei gives her some time off, she'll come and see you." He lightly kicked the dog in the side. "Why don't you go play with everyone else in the woods?" _And quit bothering me._

"But what if her sensei is evil!!!" The dog went into another spiral of despair. "Do you even know who it is?!" Kakashi shook his head back and forth. "What? Why haven't you found out?" Guruko jumped up and started panicking. "Oh god! Now I know for sure. Her sensei must be evil!"

"Nah, his name is Maito Gai." Kara sat down next to the puppy and smiled.

Guruko's fear-stricken mind couldn't quite process her presence. "G-G-Gai!? It might as well be Satan! Oh poor Kara… poor, poor Kara." He fell back down to the ground and covered his head with his paws.

"Gai?" Kakashi put down his book and stared intently at her.

She smiled awkwardly and pulled the puppy onto her lap. "Hi to ya'll too."

The dog's eyes turned chibi. "KARA! Oh, you came to see me!" He started spazzing out. "How did you manage to escape Gai's watch?"

Kara petted him to calm him down some. "Well, it sounds like you know him. So isn't it obvious? I just left on my lunch break."

"Gai doesn't give lunch breaks." Kakashi stood and started looking around suspiciously. "Did you tell him you were coming here?"

"Hm?" The young girl sat staring up at the man. "Why would I inform him that I was ditching his training session? He probably hasn't figured it out yet." She laughed, snuggling Guruko in her arms.

"We're doomed… DOOMED I SAY!" The dog leapt from her arms and into his master's.

Now slightly irritated at their behavior, Kara stood up with her hands on her hips. "What's the big deal? If anything I'm the only one who would get in trouble… right?" She made the connection between their actions and those of a guilty party. "Gai-sensei doesn't have a reason to get mad at you guys… does he?"

"Not the definition of 'mad' that you're thinking of, Kara." The Jounin held the trembling dog in his arms. "Hey… look over there." He pointed toward his house.

Kara, without question, looked. In the three seconds it took for her to realize there was nothing there, it was too late. The two of them were already gone. "Wha-what?" The twelve year old stood confused and lost.

"Found her!" Neji landed next to her and shouted to the other two members of the search party as he walked up to her. "What? Did you really think Gai-sensei would let you just leave without permission?"

The young girl was looking around, mostly ignoring the haughty attitude of her teammate. _Where did they go? I didn't think Kakashi-san could move so fast… he's always so slow and lazy._ "Nah…" Kara brushed off Neji's comment. She gave up scanning the area and returned her attention back to him. "But geez… you're such a sellout, finding me for Gai-sensei in all."

"You're a cop-out for leaving practice." He shot back. "He even gave you a 5-lap break, but that wasn't enough for you."

"Backstabbing jerk!" She retorted.

The Hyuuga gritted his teeth. "Lazy-Ass brat!"

Kara crossed her arms and closed her eyes with an indignant snort. "You're a mean kid, Neji-kun."

He stared at her, the anger in his face being replaced with a scornful pity. "…You don't catch a whole lot of things, do you?" His eyes drifted down to her ankles and then back up to her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" She balled her fists at her sides. Neji pointed for her to look down. "What the heck?! What are… When did they…" Secured onto her ankles were, what looked like, two solid metal rings.

She tried to pull one of her legs up, but found the weight to be almost too much for her to manage the action. Kara could hardly move. She turned her head around and noticed Gai standing over her. "Whaaa!!!" She would have run away in shock, but due to the added weight, she only tripped and ended up doing a face plant into the ground. She quickly flipped herself over and glared at the man. "Don't scare me like that, sensei!" He chuckled. "And what the heck are these!?" She shouted, pointing toward her outstretched legs.

"Weights." Gai smiled, happy to explain the simplicities of life. "They'll slow you down."

"…No shit…" Neji muttered under his breath; only Kara heard him.

Lee finally joined the group. "Look Kara-chan! I've got weights too!" Wrapped around his calves were metal bars. "They may slow us down, but they'll make us fast! Just like you, Gai-sensei!"

"Right you are, Lee!" Gai shot him a thumbs-up and a smile. "All elite ninja are lightning fast."

"Tch." Kara sat in the dirt. "Since it's so easy for elite ninja to run away, no wonder I was ABANDONED!" She shouted the last part and pouted. "Stupid Kakashi-san…" She mumbled.

Gai knelt down and got about five inches too close to Kara's face. "Where did you learn that name?"

"Uh… I know him. Why?" The young girl sat, contemplating an escape route. Funny how, whenever Gai spoke to her, she thought of running away.

"Y-y-you know hiimmmm?!" The green man's eye twitched in a rather unsettling manner. "Oh, why God?!" He threw his arm over his eyes and went on a bit of a tirade. "Your defiance to me is only influenced by that irritating man! I have failed you my pretty little caterpillar! Why? Why Kara?" He got close to her face again. "Why would you turn to such a wretchedly 'cool guy' for guidance?!"

She stared blankly, not really knowing how she should process the situation. "I knew him before I met you sensei…" This sent Gai into another spiral of despair. He stood and walked a couple of steps away, lamenting over his 'loss' and not paying attention to the group behind him.

Kara felt a breeze behind her. She looked up to see Kakashi offering her a hand up. "Say you're sorry, first." She growled.

His eye squinted in a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

Grateful to be lifted up to the same level as her teammates, Kara then took the help. "Next time, don't ditch me." She reprimanded him and then smiled to let him know she was over it.

The silver-haired Jounin coughed to gain her sensei's attention. Gai whipped around, startled out of his despair, ready to verbally attack him. "Now Gai…" Kakashi raised his hand and prevented the eccentric man from continuing. "I know it might be a bit difficult for you, but I need you to think really hard and remember something that I know you already know." _God, I regret ever telling him… But I swear, if he doesn't remember…_

Gai stood, glaring at Kakashi with his hand on one of Kara's shoulders. The hamster wheels in his head were spinning at full speed. He had thought that he noticed something odd about Kara before, but now it was staring him in the face and he couldn't see it.

"Psst." Kara tried to get either Neji or Lee's attention. "What're they doing?" She whispered as loud as she could manage.

Lee blinked at Kara curiously. "Oh… You weren't there, were you Kara-chan?"

"Nah, we heard all about Kakashi-san from Gai-sensei after she skipped out on practice." Neji elbowed his teammate in the side. "She didn't hear any of it."

"Of what? Why don't they seem to like each other?" The girl's eyes searched her teammates' for answers. "What's going on right now?"

Neji kept his mouth tightly shut. So, Lee elaborated for her. "Kakashi-san is Gai-sensei's ultimate rival. But Gai-sensei is better and is currently in the lead with they're bet, 48-47."

_Kakashi never mentioned a 'rival' and ugh… who would want Gai-sensei for a rival._ Kara looked back at the two men she was standing between. _What the heck are they doing? It looks like sensei is going to have an aneurism for crying out loud. _

Suddenly, Gai shouted out. "I don't care!" He rushed forward, snatching Kara and throwing her over his shoulder. "She's my student and her growth and development is my responsibility. You can't have her!" His possessiveness didn't shock anyone, it just annoyed a majority.

"So you do remember?" Kakashi really did not like hinting to the biggest secret in his life, but he had no choice if he was going to keep Gai in check.

"Certainly I do! But I will not show you any mercy in this, our latest competition. I will gain her adoration and respect." He vowed.

Kara flipped herself off of her sensei's shoulder and onto the ground. "Okay. I'm getting upset again. What's going on?" She held her head and started to stand up, only to have Gai hug her tightly… as if she were a teddy bear. She could hear Neji snickering at the sight. "Shut up.", she growled in his direction.

"Good Luck with that." The copy-nin rolled his eye at his rival. "Bye Kara." He took a step forward and patted her on the head.

"If you leave me with these people, I'm going to develop abandonment issues." Lee had spontaneously joined the hug and Kara now struggled in the two males' arms.

Kakashi chuckled walking away. "You already have issues."

"Yea, well… Your hair is ugly!" The girl shouted as her sensei carried her in the opposite direction.

_Yay! I'm winning! She's attacking Kakashi instead of me! Behold the power of youth!_ Gai thought as he finally set Kara back down, still holding her arm to prevent any escape. "Let's go running again!"

"I hate running." She pouted.

"Then more running until you like it!" Gai happily dragged her along.

Reverse psychology presented itself as an option. "I love running." Kara produced a fake smile.

"Me too!" Lee jumped in the air enthusiastically.

"Alright then!" Their sensei seemed motivated as well. "Even more running, because we all love it so much!"

Kara caught Neji's 'death glares' at her. Tiredly, she let Gai drag her instead of walking alongside him. "I'm apathetic about running." Her perspective again changed.

"Then we shall run and run some more, until you make up your mind about it!" Gai's smile shined.

Lee was overjoyed at his sensei's success over his teammate's logic. "Yay! Gai-sensei is so clever!"

"Clever's not the right word, Lee." Kara rolled her ankles back and forth making zig-zag designs in the dirt as Gai dragged her toward the city wall/running track.

--Months later--

_Can't… Let him… Catch me…_ Kara sprinted down a random street in Konoha. _Gotta… Hide… Must… Run… Faster…_ She coached herself to keep going.

"Kara-chan!" She heard a sing-song voice call out for her in the distance.

_No… Cannot… Give up…_ She was running out of steam when a familiar sight caught her eye. "Ah! You have to help me! It-it's just so terrible!" Kara latched onto Kakashi's vest with a wild look in her eyes.

"Calm down. What is it?" He put his orange book away and held her shoulders. "Are you alright?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head back and forth. "The horror… the terrible green-beast of horror!" The thirteen year old took a moment to catch her breath. "You have to keep him away from me. Neji ran to the Hyuuga compound and Lee converted! I've got nowhere else to go."

A shout of "Kara!", sounded off in the nearing distance.

"Oh no…" Her face instantly paled. "He's found me." She looked left, then right and spotted a small hedge of bushes which she quickly jumped behind.

Very calmly, Gai walked up to Kakashi. "Ah! Hello there my eternal rival. You haven't seen Kara run past here, have you?"

The masked ninja tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Black hair?"

"Yes." Gai seemed hopeful.

"Purple shirt?"

"Yes!"

Kakashi wondered just how far he could take this ruse. "Was running for dear life?"

"YES!"

And now the zinger. "Nope, haven't seen her." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Ah, darn it." Gai propped his arms on his hips. "She's been getting sneakier and faster recently. I guess the heavier weights I've been putting on her ankles have been paying off."

Instantly, Kara popped her head out of the bushes. "You've been doing what now?!"

"Kara-chan!" Her sensei was overjoyed to have finally found her. "There you are. What are you doing hiding in the shrubbery?"

The young teenager wagged her finger at him. "Oh no no no no no… No changing the subject sensei. These weights have been getting heavier?" She pointed down to her legs. "That's cruel!"

He blinked his creepy large eyes at her sadly. "But it's part of my training for you."

"You mean like that hideous green jumpsuit?" Kara scoffed and rolled her eyes.

With an exaggerated flourish, Gai whipped out a green spandex jumpsuit. "Lee liked it." He stretched out one of the arms. "It will make you aerodynamic!"

"It will also make me lose twenty IQ points, half my self-esteem and my lunch." Kara crossed her arms dramatically refusing to even look at the undeniable fashion faux-pas. "I'm not wearing it."

Kakashi chuckled lightly at Kara's tenacity. There's no way in hell Gai could force her to wear it.

"Green's a good color for you." Gai tried to speak in a convincing manner. "Now come here, you silly little caterpillar."

"Red's a good color for me too, but you don't see me cutting myself!" Kara jumped over the bushes and tried to make a run for it, but Gai caught her. "Put me down right now!!" She kicked and screamed.

Kakashi continued to find the situation hilarious.

"If you promise not to run away again, I will." Gai held her tightly in a bear hug.

She continued to fume for a few more moments. "Okay.", she huffed. "I'm calm." Kara stopped her hissy fit and kept very still. Gai smiled, content that she had finally given in and set her down. She spun around and glared at him with narrowed eyes before taking off at a sprint.

"But you promised! Get back here!" The jolly green giant called after her.

"Never!!!" He heard her shout before disappearing around a corner.

Gai held his chest as if he were having a heart attack. As it turned out he was actually just touched with a jolt of pride for Kara's strength of character. "Oh how her youthfulness continues to shine. Isn't she just wonderful?"

_She's defiant yet loyal, possesses unswerving conviction and has survived this long with Gai…_ "Yea, she's something alright." His eye drifted off to the side, thinking fondly about how quickly she'd grown on him. It had been almost two years since their first real meeting. His only regret is that he had missed out on several opportunities to tell her the truth. The perfect chance would come and he would just freeze up and it would pass. He looked back up to see Gai still standing there. "Aren't you going after her?"

"I'm giving her a head start. It's good for her training." Gai's line of sight slowly turned toward his rival. "You know… she's improved exponentially since she came under my supervision." He was trying to get a rise out of the copy-nin. "She's never missed a target; not even in practice. I have no doubt that her specialty will be in all kinds of weaponry and traps. She's faster than Neji, but still slower than Lee. And she is very talented at combining her speed and accuracy to quickly subdue her opponents."

"Hm." Kakashi pulled his orange book back out. "That's nice." _Well, what else were you expecting? She's got Hatake blood in her veins._

Gai was nearly floored by his lack of interest. "Ugh! How can you just stand there completely uninterested? No. Nevermind… I should just go catch her again." He took one step and then his face became very well acquainted with the ground. Gai shot back up, holding his nose. "D-did you just trip me?!"

"No." He blinked and leisurely started to walk past the man. "I've got to get going."

The Green-Beast dusted the brown dirt off of his vest. "Oh? You actually have something more important to do than stall me for Kara?"

"Yup." Kakashi flipped a page in his book.

"Ha! I knew it! You did trip me!" Gai smiled widely, his self-esteem somehow enhanced by this 'victory' for truth.

"Hn. I guess my clever lie was no match for your stunning intellect." The silver-haired man kept walking away. "I've got students waiting for me at the academy. Goodbye Gai." He left.

Gai stood there with his hands on his hips. "Well, it's about time he had some kids of his own." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I ought to arrange a match sometime between one of his students and one of mine… yea, that's a great idea! Ha-ha, Gai you ingenious old dog you." He chuckled to himself as he headed in the opposite direction after Kara.

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lol, What are you doing hiding in the shrubbery?! Next chapter! Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto! …FINALLY!

**P.S. Just to be clear, Gai knows that Kara is Kashi's niece but he doesn't care and he doesn't see the point in bringing it up. He sees it as just one of those things you leave alone for the people involved to sort out. (If you're keeping record, only 3 people know about Kara's relation. The Third, Tenzou/Yamato* and Gai. And we all know that number's gonna go down. lol.)**

**Reviews taste like tomatoes... I love tomatoes.**


	7. To Honor To Destroy

**Wow. I have been writing fan-fiction for one full year now. (I started 'Sparks' back in February '08) I just think it's crazy how far I've come... and by that, I mean I never thought I would stick with something like this and have it turn into a dedicated hobby.**

**This chapter got really 'insert word here', really fast near the end. I think I'm gonna go work on 'Karma' now in order to flush whatever it is out of my system. This chapter is also very long, but then, why would you be reading a fan-fiction if you didn't have some free time? **

**Lots of Sasuke-kun in this chapter... so I expect 'muchos repasans' from all ya'll Sasuke Fan Girls! (not that I think many of ya'll would notice, but I'm pretty sure I spelled 'reviews' wrong)**

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Chapter 7: To Honor; To Destroy

"Hello!" Kara's bright cheerful voice rang in Kakashi's ear. It almost startled him. All it needed was a 'rival' added to it and he would have thought it was Gai. He would have to come up with something to counteract the man's influence on her before it was too late.

"Hi, Kara-chan." He continued his slow pace toward the training field. "Are you running away from your sensei again?"

"Nope. Sensei's got some tax issues to sort out, so we got the day off." She shook her head back and forth. "You know, he's not that bad once you get to know him." The significantly shorter girl took two fast steps to keep up with the man's long strides. "It just takes some patience."

"That of a saint.", he absently patted her on the head with one hand as he continued to read his book. "So then, what are you doing?"

Kara glanced up at him with puppy dog eyes. "I'm following you around today." He looked back with an unsure irk in his eye, which she picked up on. "Am I not allowed to?"

"No, it's just that I've got work today. Some new trainees. I couldn't really keep you company cause I'll be working with them." He scratched his scalp.

"Oooo, can I meet your new students?" She chirped.

Kakashi answered her bluntly. "No."

"Why not?" Kara turned and started walking backwards to face him.

"I haven't decided if they'll be my students yet." He went back to skimming over the pages of his favorite book.

"Why not?"

"Because I haven't tested them yet." He flipped a page and turned down a corner.

"Why not?" She was beginning to sound like a broken record.

Kakashi sighed exhaustedly. He didn't want to blow her off, but she was being such a kid… a.k.a. annoying. "Because I just met them yesterday."

"Oh." She stopped interrogating him for a moment, until she thought up another set of questions. "What kind of test is it?" Kara was on a roll and she knew it.

"The common sense kind." He rolled his visible eye.

"What do they have to do exactly?" The young girl was enjoying the irritation she was causing.

"They have to work together to take some bells from me."

"Pft." Kara crossed her arms haughtily. "That doesn't sound hard at all."

"It's much more difficult than it sounds. No one the Hokage has ever sent my way, has ever passed." Kakashi briefly thought of the nearly one-hundred students he had failed in the past. _Stupid, naïve children. Not one was fit to be a ninja._

Kara stepped onto the crunchy green grass of the training field. "Well, then… can I watch?"

He put his orange book away and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Why do you keep asking me questions?"

"I'm bored. Without Gai-sensei to cause me mental and physical anguish, my day feels so empty now." She said the last part with sad tears glistening in the corners of her eyes; trying her best to persuade him to let her stay.

Kakashi couldn't resist the eyes. They looked just like his mother's… and his sister's. "I guess you can watch from the trees. But do not intervene at all, okay?" He wagged his finger at her, subconsciously knowing that it wouldn't do any good if she had already decided she was going to meet his students.

"Not a problem. No one will even know I'm here… well, except you." She giggled and ran off, going the long way around to stay out of the three recruit's line of sight.

Kara sat patiently in the trees above, watching as the three kids waited for Kakashi to arrive_. I wonder why they look so miserable. They haven't even done anything yet._ _Lucky brats get Kakashi-san for a teacher… he's so lazy, he probably won't make them do anything anyways._ Then the boy with black hair looked up to the tree she was hiding in. "Oh!" Kara gasped, covered her mouth and quickly dodged to another branch higher up. "Sasuke-kun…" She whispered to herself. "He's one of Kakashi's new students?" She peered out from behind the leaves that concealed her presence. He was still staring intently at the spot she had been before. _Did he see me?_

"What is it Sasuke-kun?" The pink-haired girl stared at him. He only shook his head and mumbled 'nothing'. "Oh. Okay." She tried to sound cheerful, but her growling stomach made it increasingly obvious that she was far from it.

"Where the hell is this guy!?" The blonde boy shouted angrily as his stomach growled so loudly, even Kara could hear it. "He said to be here bright and early… AND IT'S ALMOST NOON!!!"

"Shut up, Naruto!" The girl hit him hard on the back of the head.

Kara stifled her laughter as best as she could. _Hehehe… oh gosh. These guys… what a bunch of stooges!_

"Owwww… Why are you hitting me Sakura-chan? Now both my stomach and my head hurt." Naruto sat dejected on the ground.

"Cut it out, you losers." Sasuke mumbled, ignoring the fact that he felt the same pain in his stomach.

The blonde shot up. "Who the hell are you calling a loser?"

"Sasuke's right. You are a loser!" Sakura blindly agreed, conveniently forgetting that the sullen child had called her a loser as well.

The poor little blonde was about to jump back into the fight, despite his obvious handicap, when he caught sight of a figure approaching them.

"Hey guys." Kakashi waved casually.

"You're Late!" The blonde and the unnaturally pink-haired child shouted irritably. The jounin spared a brief glance toward the trees above them.

_Kakashi knows I'm in this tree. I can't be seen right now, but he knows… Hmm. I guess he's better than I take him for._ Kara continued to sit contently among the birds and squirrels as she watched and waited.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. _There was something in that tree and he knows what it is._

"Alright. Time for your test." Kakashi pulled out a pair of bells and went on to explain the test to the three on the ground. After putting down Naruto's mild rebellion, he signaled for them to go hide. Of course though, only Sasuke and Sakura obeyed.

"Tch." Kara shook her head back and forth as she watched Naruto present a pathetic challenge to the ninja. "Kid doesn't stand a chance." She whispered to herself, holding in a giggle when she saw Kakashi pull out his orange book.

"Tell me something I don't know. Like what the hell you're doing here." Sasuke was sitting on the branch next to her.

Kara's eyes drifted over toward him, a sweet smile spread across her face. "Hello Sasuke-kun. I was just enjoying the show." She pointed toward the open field in front of them. Her jaw went slack and her top lip curled up in disgust. "Ugh… That's not right."

Naruto had just received his first lesson as a ninja; never get caught from behind.

"Two complete idiots." Sasuke scowled at the scene.

"Hey!" Kara snapped at him. She kicked out her leg and broke the thin branch he was perched on, sending him to the ground.

He recovered quickly and, like a cat, managed to land on his feet. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" The boy shouted in hushed tones.

Kara hopped down to look him in the eye. "Kakashi-sempai is not an idiot." She crossed her arms boldly.

"So he knows you're here?" He spat back at her.

"I have a name. It's Kara. I've noticed you don't use it very much. And yes, he does know I'm here." She glanced over her shoulder momentarily to catch Naruto punch one of his clones in the face. _Bubble-headed blonde. But all those Shadow Clones… that's still kind of impressive._ She turned back to Sasuke. "I was going to help you out with this test, but now I don't think I want to anymore."

"Good. I don't need any help to pass this stupid test." He stood apart from Kara and watched Kakashi lecture Naruto for a minute about 'seeing underneath, the underneath' before he saw his opportunity. "Ha… He finally left an opening." He started his attack.

Kara rolled her eyes, mumbling absently to the already gone Sasuke. "You just don't understand the rules, do you? You'll never win that way."

Naruto continued to hang from the tree out in the field, cursing his new sensei relentlessly. Kara decided to go introduce herself. She walked right up to the tree and said, "Hello. I'm Kara. You're Naruto, right?"

"Huh? Wha-Who the hell are you?" He twitched about. "And how do you know my name?"

_Hmmm… He curses a lot. Just like Sasuke._ "I'm Ka-ra." She repeated more slowly. "And I heard that pink-haired girl shout your name earlier. Those Shadow Clones you made before were really cool."

"Ha, well. Of course they were!" He reached into his pocket to pull out a knife to cut himself loose. "I am Uzumaki Naruto after all. And someday I'm gonna be Ho-kaaaaaahhhh!" The fool had cut the rope that held him, only to land on an identical trap beneath him. "Why didn't you warn me?!" He shouted out at Kara, among other curses for his predicament.

"I saw the trap. It's just that…" _It's too funny watching you fall for them!_ "…it slipped my mind." She reached out and steadied him, cutting him down herself. "Don't worry. There aren't any more traps."

Naruto brushed himself off and stared at her. "So what are you doing here?" He asked curiously.

"Oh." Kara tapped her chin, knowing that she promised to not interfere with Kakashi's test. "Ummm… Kakashi-sempai said I could watch. I think you're going to really like him as a sensei." She tried to quickly change the subject.

"You know that psychotic bastard?!" By all accounts, he looked shocked.

Kara nodded. _But he's not that bad. Not like Gai-sensei. That's psychotic._ "I also know that he put those lunch boxes on top of the stone behind those stumps." She pointed off to the side.

"Hot damn! I'm starving!" Naruto took off. "Bye Kara-chan. See you later!" He waved as he disappeared behind the trees.

"Bye Naruto." She chuckled and climbed up into the tree where Naruto had previously been held captive.

A couple of minutes later, most likely right after he finished off the other two kids, Kakashi walked up to the tree where had had left Naruto. He held the cut rope in his hands and looked up to see Kara peering through the leaves at him. "Where'd the numbskull go?"

She stared back questioningly. "You mean Naruto?"

"You talked to him?" _I should have known better than to let her stay._ His shoulders dropped.

Kara swung down to a lower branch and perched happily. "Well, what else was I going to do?"

"What else **did** you do?" He sighed and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I cut him down. Last I saw he was headed toward the memorial stone." She pointed him in the same direction as she had directed Naruto. The man raised his hand like he was going to tell her something, but just waved it off and went after the blonde. _Hm?_ _I wonder what Kakashi-san did to Sasuke… hehehe._ Kara dropped out of the tree and took off in the opposite direction to find the raven-haired boy. It wasn't a difficult task.

Sasuke's head stuck out of the ground while next to him was an unconscious and twitching Sakura. "Don't say a word." He growled when Kara walked up with her hand covering her mouth to stall her laughter.

"Words could not properly express my emotions at this moment." Her cheeks slowly overtook her eyes as she grinned widely. "Um… do you want some help now? Cause I seriously doubt that Pinky there is gonna be of any use."

The proud child squinted his eyes and looked off to the side before reluctantly nodding, accepting the offer of assistance. Kara dug him out to his shoulders, after that, he managed to scrape himself out the rest of the way. "…thanks." His gratitude was barely audible.

"No problem." She pulled out a kunai and started cleaning her nails of the dirt that got under them. "The test is almost over. You should probably head back over there." She nodded her head in the direction she had come from.

"Kara…" Her head popped up from its focus when he said her name. "How are we supposed to pass this test?" The embarrassment from having to ask for help was apparent on his face.

The young girl put away her knife and shrugged her shoulders. "If you can accept my help, then I'm sure you can figure it out on your own." Sakura started to rouse out of her coma, muttering 'No… Sasuke… Don't die…' Kara snickered at the unconscious girl and her ramblings. "Have fun with that." She turned and left, off to hide and watch the rest of the day unfold.

"Hn." Sasuke turned away from Kara as she walked away.

Sakura woke up, overjoyed to see her beloved alive. "OH! Sasuke-kun! You're alive!" She launched herself at him, toppling him over.

"Get off of me." He pried her from his body. "Come on. We gotta head back. Time's almost up." He walked toward the tree stumps, Sakura following like a lost puppy.

Kara sat comfortably behind some bushes as she watched Kakashi tell the three that they should quit trying to be shinobi. _Wow… that's rough. _Sasuke charged forward in anger and ended up pinned to the ground, a kunai at his throat. Kara forced herself to stay seated. _Geez… Kakashi-san doesn't play around. I know he'd never hurt them, but still… _She continued to watch and listen silently. Kakashi was briefly explaining the memorial stone to them. _I didn't know he had a dead best friend. I always figured it was a three way tie between Pakkun, Kitty-man and Gai-sensei. I wonder who it was._

"And if any of you give him food, you'll fail. Got it?" Kakashi disappeared after giving them a second chance which involved not feeding Naruto. He didn't go far; right next to Kara in fact. "So?" He whispered to her.

Kara crossed her arms. "Did you have to be so mean?" He cocked his head to the side. "I mean, I guess I understand it." She rationalized. "They're not too bright and it's probably the only way they'd ever get it. Are you really going to fail them?"

"Only if they don't use teamwork." He watched as Sasuke offered his food to the incapacitated Naruto. "And it's all over now."

"Wait? So you are failing them?" Kara's voice sounded panicked.

Kakashi patted her on the head. "What does it matter to you?" He asked sweetly, though honestly intrigued by her response.

She faltered for a moment. "Well… it's just… they seem like okay guys and I think they'd make good ninja. It wouldn't be fair to send them back to the academy for another year."

The copy-nin squinted his eye in a smile. "Watch this." He transported himself again, appearing right in front of the three children, unequivocally scaring the crap out of them only to tell them that they passed.

Kara wanted desperately to burst out in laughter. But she kept most of it in by holding her sides and allowing tears to stream down her face. "Oh gosh… Ha… the look on their faces… Hahaha!" She kept her speech low. When she looked back up, she noticed that Naruto had been left tied to the post as the other three walked away. "Aw… that's not right." She hopped out of the bushes and walked up next to him. "Hey."

"Hey! Kara-chan! Cut me loose will ya'?" Naruto stopped his screaming and smiled at her expectantly.

The brunette was about to comply when she heard Kakashi call her. "Kara!"

"I'm gonna cut him free!" She shouted back, pointing to the captive blonde.

"No, you're not. Come on!" He motioned for her to follow him and the other two children. Sasuke rolled his eyes and Sakura instantly picked up on that. If Sasuke-kun didn't like this girl, then she didn't like her either.

Kara took a deep breath and nodded in compliance. "Here." She shoved a kunai into Naruto's hand. "Sorry I couldn't have been of more help." She rushed after the others.

"It's more help than I'm used to getting." He muttered to himself as he slowly began cutting through his bonds; a process that would most likely take the better part of an hour due to the position of his hand.

--Three weeks later--

Kara yawned deeply as she rode on Gai's back mostly asleep. "Gai-sensei… it's like six in the morning. It's not even light out yet." She opened one eye briefly to check on the accuracy of her statement; she was correct. "What are we doing out here?" The two were out in the dense woods to the east of the village.

"I told you it was a surprise my little caterpillar." He kept his walking pace. "I think you're going to enjoy it."

"If I didn't you know better, I would say that sentence was utterly disturbing." She grinned. Then she picked up the lightest scent of 'dog' nearby. "… Did you get me a puppy?" Kara opened her eyes and looked around.

Gai laughed. "Ah, no. Dogs are much too rambunctious for a child like you to manage."

The young girl put her head back down and mumbled, "I don't even know you anymore. Wake me when we get where ever it is that we're going."

"We're here!" He dropped her to the ground, expecting her to land on her feet. Instead, her rear end met the ground with all the force accumulated from a nearly six foot height.

'ow' The sound escaped Kara's lips as she hit the ground. She fell over to her side and curled into a ball; her goal to fall back asleep.

"Ugh. You're kidding, right?" She heard a decidedly pre-pubescent male voice complain.

_Forget you too, Sasuke._ She thought. _Wait! What? Sasuke?_ Kara sat up, wiping the sleep from her eyes to see the Uchiha along with his sensei standing in the dark forest with Gai. "What, uh… What's going on?"

Kakashi turned to Gai. "You didn't tell her, did you?"

_Aw… heck. _Kara could tell just by that sentence that Gai had done it again. His nature was to be unpredictable. Her eyes began to wander about her surroundings.

"Of course I didn't!" The green man stood proudly. "My pupils are real ninja. They don't need advance warning of an impending fight. They were born ready!"

_Gosh darn it, sensei!_ The young girl spun around quickly, stretching her arms out, along with completing her observation. "I'm pretty sure I didn't spend any time around elite ninja when I was an infant, sensei." She yawned as she pulled her favorite ribbon out of her pocket to put up her hair. She looked up to catch Sasuke glaring at her hair, or rather the instrument she used to tame it. The best decision at the time was to ignore his misplaced aggression, but then… we're talking about Kara here. "What?" She let the word slap him across the face.

He didn't answer her. Instead, he pulled out a kunai, signifying that he was ready to fight.

"Hold on a second there, Sasuke." Kakashi held the boy's shoulder to prevent any premature attack. _I should have never agreed to this. Or I should have just brought Sakura instead of Sasuke. She wouldn't put up much of a fight and then I could be sure that Kara won't get hurt._ "Quick set of rules?", he asked Gai.

"Yes, of course!" Gai stood in his explanatory pose. "No killing. Everything else goes. Fight!" He shouted and disappeared along with Kakashi to watch from a safe distance; far enough to not interfere, but close enough should things get out of hand. "Allow me to apologize in advance." Gai spoke confidently to his rival. "Kara will bring your little genin to his knees."

Kakashi leaned against the upper tree branches, watching the two children below. He looked over at Gai when he felt eyes glaring at him. "Did you say something?"

--At Ground Level--

"Why do you still have that?" Sasuke growled at Kara, referring to her ribbon.

She absently touched it in her hair, her line of sight up in the trees. "It reminds me."

"Of what?" He spat. "That bastard?!" The boy's onyx eyes tried to catch her blue ones.

Kara allowed her eyes to lock with his. "Among other things." She jumped back and disappeared into the surrounding forest. "Let's make this fast." Her voice seemed to come from all directions. "I want to go back to sleep."

"Not a problem, if you'd stop hiding and fight me." He stood ready, with kunai in hand, to attack.

"Alright." She shot out of the darkness and kicked his legs out from under him. "But you asked for it." She stood over him as he lay on the ground spread eagle. He regained awareness and threw two kunai up at her. They both missed; one to each side of her face. "You should be more careful. You could poke someone's eye out like that."

In anger, he jumped up, grabbing her and throwing her to the ground. With one punch, the substitution was made evident; a log where he had just struck her. _Damn this darkness. I can't see her._ "Are you hiding because you're scared?" He hid his frustration quickly.

"Nah." Kara was standing on a mid-level tree branch staring down at him. "Just take a dive so this can end."

"Why don't you?" Sasuke threw a handful of shuriken at her.

She sidestepped and avoided most of them. Those that she couldn't avoid, a total of four, she caught; two in each hand. "Because it's just not my style to forfeit to someone like you." She threw the four metal weapons back at him, but with a slight adjustment to their purpose and capability. Instead of veering straight at him, they went out to the sides at a slower speed, creating a wide, curving flight path, completely missing him.

Kara was not moving in these brief moments. While she was exposed, Sasuke decided it would be his only chance to land an attack on her and he would have to make it count. With a quick flash of hand signs he used his katon jutsu, aiming right where she stood.

Her eyes went wide. _What?!!_ Instinct took over and she flipped off of the branch and landed on the ground where Sasuke was already waiting to charge her. The fireball set the treetops above them ablaze, giving the setting an almost apocalyptic lighting. _Kick him back! I can't hold these wires and defend myself!_ In her hands were wires that remained attached to the flying shuriken.

The Uchiha rushed forward. _If I can just subdue her, they'll call the match. _Kara ducked down and dodged the first swing of his knife. But the blade caught the center of the ribbon in her hair, cutting it loose. He followed up with a punch that was blocked by her arm. In that instant, he noticed something odd. Running from her tightly clenched jaw, were four barely visible wires. _What the hell?_ The thought crossed his mind as Kara kicked him back. He could feel the wires running along his back. _Shit! When did she set these up?!_

As Sasuke flew backward his body pulled the wires tight, swinging the weighted ends around him. He couldn't move.

Kara spat out the controlling ends of the wires that were securely wrapped around her opponent. Her hair was down, scraping against her cheeks and shoulders. The deep purple ribbon that she had held dear for so long was on the ground in two pieces. She reached down and gently picked up the two halves. Her sad eyes looked up to see Sasuke standing there; immobilized but with a victorious smirk aimed at her loss.

The sorrow in her blue eyes stood out dramatically from the eerie red glow above them. She walked up to him with the cut ribbon in her hand and spoke. "I understand."

He was stunned. His triumph lessened dramatically by her simple words. "Huh…?"

"You see…" Kara's speech was slow, soft and controlled. "I live my life the way I do, to honor who Itachi was--"

"Shut up! Just shut your fucking mouth!" Sasuke yelled at her, enraged by the mere mention of his brother's name.

"And you live your life the way you do, to destroy what he has become." She finished her statement without flinching. "I understand." She sniffled, doing her best to keep the inner turmoil inside. Kara was just as devastated as Sasuke was, when she heard about what had happened to his family. It hurt her to try and imagine the wonderful young man that she had met, who had so dramatically changed her view of herself, killing his entire clan. But she couldn't deny that what he had done was unforgiveable. It was this painful paradox that she chose to live with; that Itachi was good but now he wasn't. And it was this dual knowledge of him, which allowed Kara to say with complete honesty and compassion to Sasuke, "I understand."

Sasuke couldn't bear to look at her. He tensed within his bonds. "You can never understand… no one will ever understand…" He sneered, still refusing to look her in the eyes.

Kara just nodded, silent tears dripping down her face. She hated crying. She had already filled up her quota for a lifetime and she wasn't much for overachieving. "… okay." A whisper escaped her almost trembling lips. The fire above them was dying out and the darkness reclaimed its rightful place surrounding them. Kara dropped the cut ribbon to the ground, released Sasuke from the wires she had ensnared him in and started to walk away.

"Kara-chan! Did you win?! You did win, didn't you?" Gai shouted joyously as he jumped down from wherever he had been watching from. "Haha! I knew you would!"

"I lost sensei." She drifted past him. "I'll run extra laps to make up for it." Ash and soot from the burned out treetops began to snow down on them.

"So Sasuke won?" Kakashi grabbed her arm, preventing her from leaving the group. _Something's wrong. She wouldn't volunteer for more work. What is it? I wish you would just tell me what happened, Kara._

The raven-haired genin spoke up. "No. It was a tie. Neither of us won." His voice was as cold and unemotional as ever.

Gai was floored. "What? How is that possible? Kara should have had you trapped!" He pulled her away from Kakashi and held her tightly. His possessiveness was showing again.

"He used a katon jutsu. I had nothing to counter it." _I hardly know any ninjutsu at all anyway. Gai-sensei really likes taijutsu and most of our training focuses on that. _Kara used her sleeve to casually wipe the tears off her cheeks. Her hands folded together in front of herself. The grey ash that floated down to the ground was starting to collect in her hair. In the darkness, it looked almost natural.

"But… but…" Gai squeezed her arm like a child begging for a second chance.

"But nothing, Gai." Kakashi knew it was time to shut him up. He had noticed Kara's offhand motion and he could now see the nails of her right hand digging into the cuticles of her left. "We couldn't see what happened because of the fire and they said it was a tie." He wanted nothing more than to pull her back from his rival's grasp and make her tell him why she was crying. It obviously had something to do with Sasuke, but he couldn't prove anything. "Come on." Kakashi gestured for the young Uchiha to follow him. "Sun's gonna be up soon."

Kara looked up at him. The entire time he had been talking, to her, it felt like he was talking only to her.

The copy-nin patted her on the head, dusting some of the ash out of her jagged tresses. "You look tired. Go back to bed." He glanced up at Gai, giving him a look. "She's done a lot of work for one day, hasn't she?"

Gai understood what his rival was telling him, but he still thought it was wrong. In his mind, if Kakashi wasn't willing to openly admit to his familial relation to Kara, then he shouldn't get any familial rights when it came to matters involving her. And Gai, being her sensei, was technically the closest thing to a father/uncle/older brother she would ever know. It should be his decision whether she would get to slack off because he had used her in a dog fight… only with children… who are trained killers.

Gai looked down at Kara as she looked up at him. Her eyes were pale and looked exhausted both physically and emotionally. "Yes, she has. Come on." He held her hand and tugged her along as he walked her back home. "You can have the day off, but only if you spend it resting."

Kara nodded faintly and waved goodbye to Kakashi and Sasuke. The former waved back while the latter looked away somewhat ashamedly for his actions. Sasuke hadn't intended on making her cry, but he didn't want to hear her talk anymore either. He didn't like how she knew so much about him. And he found it upsetting that he didn't consider her a factor in his life, but she clearly considered him a facet of her's.

Sasuke looked down at the ground and saw the ribbon lying there. _At least I don't have to look at that damned ribbon anymore._

"Let's go Sasuke-kun." Kakashi grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed the boy ahead of himself.

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**Well, I hope this chapter made sense to ya'll. It flowed nicely in my mind… Sorry if Kara seems a bit "TenTen-ish" but I promise she will develop into something God-like in comparison to the real TenTen. Wait another two or three chapters. Also, she is totally pro-Itachi, but I thought that was obvious since chapter 2.**

**Reviews are like sunshine and thunderstorms, they make everyone happy.**


	8. The Land of Waves

**Hot damn, I haven't updated in over a month! Well, this chapter's pretty long (15 pages in Word) and I'm pretty happy with it. So that ought to be enough to make up for the delay!**

**There are a few lines that I steal from the actual manga/anime. So yea… I think it's obvious what parts aren't mine.**

**Lol. Ya'll have no idea how random most of my writing process is. I just sit down and start typing. Seventy-percent of what ends up in the story surprised me when I wrote it out. I'm just as much of a reader as ya'll are. (Kinda sounds like I'm possessed, doesn't it?)**

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Chapter 8: The Land of Waves, Part One

"I'm sick and tired of these lame-ass missions! I want something bold! Daring! Exciting! Cut the crap old man! I want a real mission!" Naruto's rant was met with a sound smack to the back of the head by his teacher. "Ow!"

"Shut it." Kakashi scolded him. "Stop being so disrespectful. You're gonna get me in trouble." The man looked back up at the Hokage. "Sorry about him, sir." The distinguished old man just nodded it off. He knew how Naruto was.

"You all just think I'm some stupid kid! Well, I'm not! It's not fair!" The blonde continued his complaining despite the recent head injury.

The Hokage set his pipe down. "Alright then." He spoke very calmly, much to the surprise of everyone in the room. "I'll give you a C rank so that you may prove yourself. However, your team seems to be short one member." He noted.

"Yes, sir." Kakashi began to explain. "It's this recent flu epidemic that's been going around and it just so happens that Sakura has come down with a particularly nasty case of it. I don't believe she'll be well enough for a mission any time soon."

"What a shame…" Sasuke smirked quietly. Her 'fangirly-ness' had been at an all time high recently and the boy could only endure so much.

"It won't be a problem." The elderly man grinned. "Several others have some down with the disease as well and as such, we've had quite a few genin without jonin sensei's to watch over them. Gai is sick too." Kakashi smiled under his mask. He knew where this was headed. "So I'll just temporarily assign one of his students to fill in for yours." The Hokage tapped his chin. "It's funny though. She should have been here already."

Out in the hall, sounds of a struggle could be heard. "Stop it! You have to go in there!"

"No! Please! I'm begging you Kitty-man! I'm on vacation right now! I shouldn't have to work!" The quick patter of sprinting footsteps was heard heading in one direction down the hall. "I'm serious! Back off!"

"But the knife down, Kara." There was a moment of silence. "Stop making that face and put the knife down." She had obviously been non-compliant. "You do realize that I'm in the ANBU, right? Now stop it and come on."

"I went to a lot of trouble to get this vacation and you are not going to ruin it for me!" The footsteps charged forward. "Ah! No! Let me gooooooo!" She screamed.

The door burst open and in stumbled an ANBU holding the little girl tightly in his arms. "Stop moving around!" He shouted at her.

"Maybe if you didn't kidnap me then I would!" Kara shouted in reply. In one more spasm, she threw her head back and slammed into his mask. "OOoowww!" They both cried in unison. The man dropped Kara to the ground and held the front of his mask. Kara faltered and fell to her knees, holding the back of her head tenderly.

"Tenzou!" The Hokage yelled at him. "Is this how you conduct yourself?"

"No, sir." His reply sounded nasally. He was pretty sure that his nose had been at least fractured. "It just that she… with the bucket… and the matches… and then she ran really, really fast." The Hokage's glare shut him up. Clearly his excuses were unsatisfactory. Tenzou looked down at Kara, still holding his mask. "I loathe you." He growled and walked over to his post at the Hokage's side.

The little girl looked up at him with her eyebrows up. "Oh? Gee, I kind of like you, Mr. Kitty." She wavered as she stood back up. "Oh hey there boys!" The two remaining members of Kakashi's team finally came into focus for her. "What are ya'll doing here?"

"Getting an awesome new mission!" Naruto's smile gleamed brightly.

"Kara." The Sandaime caught her attention. "What did you mean by, you went to a lot of trouble to get your vacation?"Everyone in the room was staring at her.

Her relaxed expression faded instantaneously. _Oh boy… I'm in trouble now._ "I have no idea what you are talking about." Kara's tone sounded metallic and robot-like.

"The Hell You Do! You're a terrorist! That's what you are!" Tenzou was not letting this episode go, but with one silent glare from his boss, he shut up.

No matter how immature Tenzou was acting, the Hokage knew better than to ignore the ranting of one of his best. "What does he mean by terrorist, Kara?" He questioned her, but she remained silent. "You can either talk or I can bring in an interrogator to pull it out of you." His voice lacked a serious quality. The more experienced ninja in the room knew he was bluffing, but the children didn't know any better.

"But… It wasn't my fault." She shook her head, her eyes full of worry. _Stupid Lee… I told him not to drink the tea._ Kara's head dropped to her chest. "I infected Gai-sensei with the flu." She mumbled so low it could hardly be heard.

"You did what?" Kakashi's reason for asking was not that he hadn't heard her, but that couldn't believe that she would go to such lengths when dealing with her sensei.

"Say it louder now for everyone to hear." The Hokage leaned back in his chair. This recent generation of ninja were some of the most intriguing children he had ever seen. They were always doing something entertaining.

Kara straightened up and looked straight at the old man behind the desk. "I broke into the hospital, I stole a vial of Orthomyxoviridae and I put it in my sensei's tea." _Gosh, this is so embarrassing! In front of the Hokage and Kakashi and these guys… _

"Orthomy-what now?" Naruto stood next to her completely confused.

_Geez… I knew this chick was crazy, but damn. _Sasuke stared at her sideways.

"It's the flu, Naruto." Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets. "Kara stole a vial of flu virus and purposely infected someone." He shook his head. "She started an epidemic. That's biological terrorism." _What on earth could he have done to her, to make her retaliate in such a way?_

"Yea, well. He asked for it." The little girl crossed her arms defensively. "Have any of you had to do bear crawls on your elbows with a seventy pound weight on your back at four in the morning?!" No one answered her. "I didn't think so. Besides, it was the flu. I could have grabbed any assortment of infectious diseases, but no… I picked the flu… which has a cure… so it's not like I tried to kill him or anything… so we don't need to let any of this get out, okay?" She smiled as sweetly as she could muster at the old man behind his desk.

Fortunately for her, he had a soft spot for girls because he had always wanted a daughter, but he only had sons. He smiled back. "Alright then. We'll forget it ever happened."

"Seriously?!" Everyone in the room spoke together, each for their own reasons and point of view.

"Hokage-sama, you can't be serious?!" Tenzou put his hands on the desk. "She's the reason that there's an epidemic of flu going around. There should be charges of breaking and entering, grand theft of biological materials, intent to cause bodily harm, destruction of criminal evidence--"

"If we're on the topic of criminal charges in such, may I just say that you kidnapped me." Kara shrugged her shoulders offhandedly.

"You were resisting arrest!" The ANBU tightened his fist in rage. Kara only giggled in reply. She was actually quite pleased with herself because in her mind, she had gotten away with her crimes, scot-free.

Kakashi put his hand on her head and pressed down slightly. "That's enough Kara." She clammed up and stared up at him amiably; it had no effect, so her face quickly faded to a frown of disappointment. "Sir…" He got the Hokage's attention. "I think her actions warrant some form of punishment." Kara reached up and pushed the man's hand off of her. "You admitted to everything, Kara. You don't just get to do whatever you want, regardless of your reasons." _Heh, I wish I had thought of it. There were so many times that I wished to just get rid of Gai, if only for a few days._

"Of course." The old man scribbled something down on a piece of paper. "Just because I said I would forgive her crimes, doesn't mean that I would let her go without punishment. And what better penance than to take away what she intended to gain from her actions." Kara stared intently at the leader of her village. "Your vacation is over, Ms. Harada." Her mouth opened as if she were about to speak. "But why? You ask?" He anticipated her words. The child only wrinkled her eyebrows together and nodded. "Because it is your fault that Kakashi's squad is short one member and they cannot properly fulfill their assignment without a full team. You'll be filling in for Haruno Sakura."

Kara's eyes darted over her surroundings. "Oh… the pink-haired girl." She nudged Naruto in the arm. "So I take it that Sasuke's girlfriend got sick, huh?" The blonde instantly scowled at the mention of Sakura belonging to someone other than him. What a jealous child. Kara sidestepped away and bumped into the aforementioned boy.

Sasuke growled out, "She's not my girlfriend." Kara again backed away from the disgruntled male and bumped into Kakashi.

The silver-haired man smiled down at her. "You're in luck. We just got our first C rank."

Kara's shoulders picked up slightly. "Well…" She sighed. "At least it's not menial labor, like pulling weeds or babysitting."

"That's the spirit." His eye crinkled up in a smile.

"I won't fight you on this, sir." She addressed the Hokage, scratching her arm absently. "I'm too tired anyway." _Heh… quick mission without sensei, Neji or Lee. Pft. Some punishment, it'll be a piece of cake. I still get to have my vacation!_

Tenzou muttered to himself, glaring at Kara from behind his mask. "Oh I'm sure you are… leading me on a wild chase all over the village… threatening me and still getting away with everything… you'd think you were something special… I'll show you special."

The Hokage smacked him with a scroll. "Stop being so vindictive and go get the man who needs escorting." The ANBU nodded and slumped over to a door, opening it enough to call in the client. "Kakashi, you and your team will be escorting someone to the Land of Waves."

"Oooh… Oooh! Like a princess or a lord?!" Naruto's mood perked back up at the mention of his new mission.

"I've done that before." Kara noted, tapping him on the shoulder.

Naruto turned to her. "Really?"

"Yea. It's a lot of fun escorting rich people, cause they always want to stop at these exotic locales and at the best restaurants and the most high-class hot springs." Kara reminisced. "Ah, good times… good times." She sighed. "If I wasn't a ninja, I would totally want to be a rich person."

"Being rich is not an occupation." Sasuke snapped at her like she was stupid.

"For rich people it is." She corrected him as if he were the stupid one.

Naruto laughed and pointed in his teammates face."Ha! She got you idiot!"

"She didn't get me you dumbass!" Sasuke slapped away Naruto's hand, but was stopped from inflicting further damage by Kakashi.

"Tch." Tenzou walked back in with a drunken old fool stumbling in behind him. "Hey geniuses…" He got the kids' attention. "You're escorting this guy. His name is Tazuna. He's a bridge builder. Now get the hell out of here."

"Tenzou!" The Hokage scolded him.

The soldier's shoulders fell and he slumped back to his post. "Sorry sir."

The drunken fool leaned up against a door frame and looked over the four ninja that were assigned to him. _Aw, hell… they look like a bunch of retards._ "Geez, what a bunch of brats… especially the short one. He looks kinda slow."

Naruto's head whipped back and forth as he slowly realized that he was indeed the short one in the group. "Oi! You bastard! I'll kick your ass!"

"Cut it out." Kakashi grabbed the blonde by the collar.

--Front Gates of the village, waiting to leave on the mission--

"Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy!" Naruto kept chanting while running around the gates like a moron as Kara, Sasuke and Tazuna watched him; waiting for Kakashi to show.

"I-Is he okay?" Kara's eyes followed him, one eyebrow higher than the other.

"I'm pretty sure it's normal for retards to act that way." The old fool took another swig of his liquor.

Sasuke rubbed his temple, annoyed to no extent by how embarrassing it was for his teammate to be justly insulted in front of him. His gaze gradually settled on Kara. It had been weeks since he had last spoken to her in the woods during their little sparring match. How appropriate that his first words to her since then had been an insult in front of the Hokage a few hours earlier. At least he had stayed true to form. But now, he wanted to accurately gauge whether she was still mad at him. He was really hoping that he didn't trade out an annoying lovesick fan-girl for a psychotically bipolar girl with a grudge against him.

"Yes?" Kara turned to face the unintentionally glaring eyes.

He couldn't quite get out, 'Are you still mad at me for cursing at you and cutting the one memento of your childhood that you treasured the most?'; instead, we got this. "Since when do you wear gloves?" He pointed to her hands at her sides.

"Hm?" She lifted her right hand up and stared at the black fingerless glove. "Oh. I just started wearing them about a week ago. My hands were starting to callous, so…" She flexed her hand and smiled. "Got to retain some shred of my femininity."

"Callous from what? Haven't you been training for awhile now?"

Kara couldn't tell if it was his curiosity or cynicism that was asking the question. "Well… my sensei had started making me use ridiculously heavy weapons recently. And they've been making my hands raw."

"Pft." The old drunkard was eavesdropping on their conversation. "A scrawny little thing like you swinging a big sword. I don't buy it."

"Well, if I'm the one protecting you from a bandit, you better hope I'm able to wield a weapon properly." Kara gently put him in his place as the weak civilian that he was.

"Yea, well. You're short." Tazuna swayed and then steadied himself.

Kara shook her head back and forth with a snort of laughter. "I'm thirteen. Why would I be any taller than I already am right now?" Sasuke smirked at her cleverness. "Don't smile." She pointed at him. "What kind of victory is it when I can outsmart a drunk?"

"A funny one." He answered, still smirking.

Kara opened her mouth to retort; only she came up blank. _Huh… he got me._ "Alright… I'll give you that one." She gave him a small smile and nudged him in the shoulder. "But you know you still owe me." The Uchiha looked at her confused. "If you'd notice," she pointed to her head. "I'm keeping my hair back solely with my hitai-ate as a headband and my hair looks ridiculous like this. But, it's all I have since you cut my ribbon." Her shoulder-length black hair hung lightly, but the ragged edges seemed to remain still despite the direction of the wind. It wasn't quite built to catch the breeze.

_It doesn't look that bad._ "Hn." Sasuke crossed his arms and turned away from her, pretending that something had caught his attention. Unfortunately, it was a spastic orange blur that came into his vision.

Kara rolled her eyes for her own benefit. "I'm sure you'll find something to replace it soon enough. That would be the gentlemanly thing to do after all."

"Yea… sure." He dismissed her statement carelessly while reaching forward to grab Naruto. The boy had not stopped moving since they arrived at the gates and it was now officially pissing him off.

"Hey kids. Ready to get going?" Kakashi walked up, reading his familiar literature.

"I don't even care that you're late!" Naruto shouted gleefully. "Let's go!" He bolted out of Sasuke's grasp and led the way outside the village walls.

--

Kara continued to walk forward with a blank expression on her face. She had mistakenly accepted to enter into a conversation with Naruto. Can you guess what the topic was? "So…" Her eyebrow twitched. "The whole point of what you have been talking nonstop about for the last twenty minutes… is that you like ramen."

"Yes!" The blonde smiled brightly.

_I think I'm starting to see why the Hokage called this my punishment._ "Sempai?" She called over her shoulder at Kakashi and got his attention. "Exactly how long is this mission going to take?"

"Oh, I'd imagine it'll take us about a day to get there and a day to get back." He tilted his head condescendingly. "Why? Are you in some kind of a hurry?"

Kara spun around as she walked. "Nah… I'm just getting bored, that's all." _Oh Gosh, I'm gonna need some aspirin if something interesting doesn't happen soon._

"Hey! You need to stay focused." Tazuna squinted at her. "If you're getting bored it means that you're not paying attention and then you'll screw up trying to protect me!"

"Protect you?" The girl threw her hands up. "Protect you from what? The two clouds?" She looked up at the barren sky. "The thirty-five trees in the immediate vicinity? What about the twenty-three birds and fourteen squirrels?" She spun about again.

Naruto looked around in all directions. "How do you know that's what's out there?"

_He can't be serious, can he?_ Kara stared back, squinting her eyes in confusion, and looked back at Kakashi. "It reflects badly on you, when you students can't see their surroundings, sempai." He huffed dismissively and continued reading his book.

"I don't know how I know, Naruto. But I do know it's a good thing that I do." She pointed momentarily at the puddle she had just walked past. "God forbid I overlook something as 'dangerous' as a puddle." She chuckled at Tazuna's frown. Then it hit her. _Wait… What? A puddle. But it hasn't rained for days, has it?_ Her eyes went wide as the implications of the puddle sank in.

Kakashi caught her shoulder and pushed her onward ahead of himself. He bent down and whispered in her ear. "You know what to do."

Kara's training kicked her into gear. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had quickly caught up to stand alongside Tazuna. "What do you want, Ms. High-And-Mighty Ninja Girl?" The man scowled. Kara remained silent. Something bad was going to happen. She knew it in her gut. "Oi, I'm talking to you." He was about to poke her in the head when the 'ching'ching' of chains rang out behind them.

The small group whipped around just in time to see their leader sliced up into tiny little pieces. All of them froze, but Naruto was the slowest to recover; thus making him the next target.

The two mist ninja charged him, but he didn't move. The poor kid was stunned. _Move, move, move! Why aren't you moving!?!_ Kara tensed where she stood in front of Tazuna. She couldn't bring herself to rush forward and save him. She had a duty to protect the bridge builder and it stood resolutely in her way. This kind of moral situation had yet to show its ugly face in her life. Neji and Lee were always at the top of their game and Gai-sensei was never too far away should things get out of hand. Really, in all her time being a ninja, she had always been singled out as the weakest banana in the bunch; and it had always been her back that needed watching. But now, traveling with less experienced genin, she could only watch and pray to God that something was going to save him.

She didn't have to pray for very long. Immediately after recovering from his own shock, Sasuke leapt forward to protect his teammate. With flawless precision, he disabled the enemies' chain weapon and delivered a sound kick to their faces. He may have presented a decent attack, but the two mist ninja's recovery was almost instantaneous. One charged straight for Naruto, the other dashed towards Kara. _Shit! Naruto or Kara. Naruto or Kara._ Sasuke struggled with the thought of who to protect.

Kara had watched with relief when the Uchiha had rushed to his teammate's aid. _Thank God._ She sighed inwardly. _For sure those two would have torn Naruto to shreds._ But a new thought entered her mind just moments later. _Oh no, they recovered... and one of them is coming right at me!_ "Get back!" She shouted at the bridge builder behind her. _Come on… come and get it._ Two kunai spun around in her hand as she braced for the impending attack. What a shame that it never came.

In the first second, Sasuke slid to stand in front of her. In the next second, Kakashi just randomly decided to reappear and take the enemy out with a clothesline. _Well that was a waste of adrenaline._ Kara's shoulders slumped slightly as she put away her weapons.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at her before heading his own way, over toward Naruto; a smug look on his face. "You okay, scaredy-cat?" The blonde boy growled and looked ready to throw down.

"Cut it out Naruto." Kakashi didn't even have to look up from tying the two mist nin to at tree, to know what was going on. "You've got poison in your hand, so increasing your blood pressure isn't a good idea." He turned toward the other two kids. "Good job, you two. You guys did exactly what I would have expected." He patted Kara on the head and she couldn't help smiling from the extra attention he seemed to be paying her.

_She's not even his student. She's just a temp. Why does he seem to care so much?_ Sasuke watched silently off to the side.

"Mr. Tazuna…" Kakashi turned to face the old man. "About these ninja attacking you."

"Look! I'm sorry okay!" He broke down. "If I'd had more money, I would have paid the higher fee for better ninja--"

"More experienced." Kara interrupted as she knelt in front of the subdued mist ninja. "You pay more money for more experienced ninja. That doesn't necessarily make them better." She reached forward and gingerly grazed her finger along the disabled chain weapon of theirs.

The old man looked at her with a slack jaw. "Wha-what does that matter right now?"

"Hm?" She looked over her shoulder at him casually. "Just thought you should watch who you're insulting there. We're all you've got right now." The adults returned to their conversation as Kara's attention returned to the two mist ninja tied to the tree. Sasuke walked over to her and yanked her hand away from them. Though she was startled by the seemingly aggressive action, she only stared blankly before genuinely questioning him. "What was that for?" Her voice was way to calm for him to tolerate.

"They're enemies. Don't touch them." The boy growled letting her hand free. "What are you even doing over here anyway? Go stand over there by Naruto. It's safer."

Kara nodded her head knowingly. _How… sweet? Huh, that just doesn't sound right when describing him._ She came to the realization that he was only being so abrupt with her out of concern. "You don't have to worry about me. I think I'll stay right here." She knelt back down and continued her detailed observance of the two disabled combatants.

"Less than a minute ago they were trying to kill you. But now you want to kneel in front of them as if they were a zoo exhibit? What's wrong with you?" The Uchiha just didn't know when to let an issue die.

"There's nothing 'wrong' with me." An inkling of annoyance dripped from Kara's words. "Really, they were just doing what they were hired to do. Exactly like us. I don't hate them. I don't have any reason to hate them." She poked at one of the ninja's hitai-ate. The chunin glared daggers at her in response. "And I'm examining them because I find them interesting."

Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets as he looked down on her. "That's stupid."

"So's leaping in front of someone to protect them, when they're fully capable of defending themselves; but people still do it." Kara's blue eyes traveled up to him for a moment, making sure her point got across.

"Hn." He turned away from her, aggravated that despite his quick and impassioned responses, this girl could still run circles around him. She just chose to play it as cool as she did.

The older men in the group were still discussing what had just transpired. "Why don't you just tell me the truth, Mr. Tazuna?" Kakashi sounded annoyed.

The drunken old man spilled everything. Gato, the poverty of his island, the bridge, and the hit placed on his head. "And that's the truth."

_Ah Geez… _Kakashi scratched his head and looked up at the sky. _This really is most likely too much for the kids to handle. But on the other hand, Kara does have a year under her belt, Sasuke's a natural and Naruto… well, he's got guts… and poison in his hand. That's definitely gonna need to be looked at._

"Oh My Gosh!" Kara's shout brought the jonin out of his thoughts. "Naruto! What are doing?!" She dropped the chains she was inspecting and rushed to his side.

"No way I'm backing out of this!" Naruto dug the knife into his hand deeper. "I'll protect that old bastard. No matter what!"

"Yea, that's great!" Kara's sarcasm showed as she grabbed his arm and forcibly removed the knife from his hand. "But you're not gonna be much help if you bleed to death. Come here." She began treating his wound, pausing for a moment as she noticed that the injury was already healing. _Huh? That's weird._ She made a mental note of the curiosity.

Kakashi walked forward, offering to help. He was the guy in charge after all. "Here. Let me--" He pulled his hand back just before Kara smacked it. "What was that for?"

"You and I both know that you're no good at being a medic. Besides," she let Naruto take his hand back. "I'm already done. See? No worries." Kara smiled and looked up at him expectantly. "So what's the verdict? Are we going home or what?"

"Well, this does go way beyond what we were hired for…"

Tazuna burst out laughing. "Oh it's no problem! Go on back. It won't be your fault if I die a horrible death. Though… my poor daughter and grandson will have to bury my rotting corpse when they find it a few weeks later! But don't let that bother ya'!" He kept an utterly creepy and fake smile plastered on his face, while the other four sighed with guilt.

"I suppose it can't be helped." Kakashi gave into the man's thinly veiled plea. "We'll continue to escort you, just until you get back to your country. Come on guys." He sighed heavily and led the way forward.

As Kara walked past the smirking Tazuna, she spoke to him. "It takes a lot to make me dislike a person." She paused until she was certain that she had his full focus. "You're at the halfway mark." The old bridge builder looked down at her as if she were made of celery. Kara took it as an unspoken question of 'why?'. "If you really loved your family, you wouldn't use them as leverage. I don't like that." Content that her message had gotten though, the brunette caught up with Naruto who was now at the head of the pack. "I didn't ask earlier, but how's your hand?"

"Oh, it feels fine." Naruto smiled, happy for the concern. "Thanks for wrapping it for me."

Kara patted him on the shoulder and grinned. "Not a problem."

--

The strangest feeling of being stabbed in the stomach hit Kara as she stepped onto the boat at the water's edge. She had never really been out on the water before. Sure, Konoha had a few big rivers, but she had never really hung out around them. The deepest water she had ever been in was her bathtub and even then, she preferred to shower for an unknown, even to her, reason. This reason would soon come to light.

"Look at this fog. I can't see a thing." Naruto knelt at the bow of the boat, causing it to rock all the more as he looked about his surroundings… which he just explained he couldn't see.

All Kara could see were flashes of images of her own drowning, the water calling out to her; beckoning her to its depths where it would snuff out the light behind her eyes. She would thrash and try to fight back, but all that she would cut at was cold, unforgiving water. The terror overwhelmed her and finally she couldn't take it anymore. "For God's sake, stop moving Naruto!" She panted, her hands clutching the seat beneath her for dear life as her arms trembled under the unbearable weight of her fear.

Everyone, even the oarsman, stared at her. Kara didn't know what was worse the feeling of impending doom or the embarrassment of being stared at as she sat frozen, trapped in a state of paranoia… no, wait. The 'doom' was worse.

"Kara, are you--" Kakashi reached forward to hold her trembling arms.

"Fine! Just fine. How much longer are we going to be out here, sempai?" Her eyes remained glued to the floor, for fear of catching sight of her tormentor, the water.

He gave up trying to get her to look at him. "Five, maybe ten, more minutes. Are you sure you're okay?" She nodded abruptly before resuming her stationary pose. "Have you ever been out on the water before?" She shook her head back and forth this time, though in the same hasty manner. _Oh boy… this mission just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?_ Kakashi let her go and sat back in his seat, careful not to rock the boat.

"What's wrong with her?" Naruto plopped down in his seat next to the trembling girl, earning a brief, high pitched intake of air, out of her.

Sasuke hadn't moved in this entire time. He was probably the first to notice how uncomfortable the young girl had seemed as she first stepped into the boat twenty minutes earlier. He had raised his eyebrow as she shouted out at Naruto for his unnecessary rocking of the boat and he had smirked inwardly to himself as she twitched awkward replies to Kakashi's questions. _So, the clever chick's got a weakness after all._ "She's aquaphobic." His smug attitude wiped all over his response. "She thinks the water is gonna kill her."

"N-n-no it's not." Kara squeezed her eyes shut. "As long as I stay in the boat, I'm safe. I'm not stupid, Sasuke." She gritted her teeth together.

"Nah, but there's still something 'wrong' with you." He purposely stood up and sat back down to move the boat again.

"Cut it out." Kakashi scolded his student for his reckless and immature behavior. _Little bastard. Ought to knock him into the water and see how he likes it._ "How much longer?" He looked up at the oarsman.

"We're passing the bridge now. Won't be more than a few more minutes."

The jonin squeezed Kara's shoulder. "We're almost there." She nodded again with her eyes still shut tightly as she did her best to tune out the sound of the waves; though, she could just imagine them lapping up against the sides of the boat, eager to latch themselves onto her legs and drag her down.

--

Once back on dry land, everything seemed to be going just fine. Except of course for Naruto trying his hardest to outdo Sasuke. "Over there!" He shouted throwing a kunai into the bushes.

Kara caught it in midair before it reached its destination and lightly tossed it back to him. "It's a sparrow. Stop throwing sharp things left and right. That's dangerous and wasteful."

The blonde boy held the kunai and stared at the girl behind squinted eyes. "Are you sure?" Kara kicked the bush and out flew a sparrow. "Hmph…" He crossed his arms and huffed. "I still don't get how you do that."

She threw her arm over his shoulder and walked forward with him. "Who knows? It could be genetic. It could be skill. Heck, it could even be you." She grinned wider as he failed to realize the insult. It was all in good fun anyway.

"Look out!" Naruto gasped, throwing a shuriken down at something that just leapt out of the shrubbery. It startled Kara enough that she quickly jumped up onto Naruto's back to get out of the way of whatever beast had braved charging two 'highly capable' ninja.

A pure white rabbit stood frozen in place, sharp weapons all around him. The suddenness with which it appeared had warranted Kara's reaction to its presence as intensely as Naruto had. She had thrown weapons at it too.

Tazuna and Sasuke rolled their eyes at the two over stimulated fools. However, Kakashi's keen eye stayed focused on the rabbit.

Naruto stumbled around with the added weight on his back. It wasn't just Kara; it was those weights on her legs as well. After another second, he couldn't hold her anymore and the two of them came crashing down to the ground.

"Everyone get down!" Kakashi shouted just before a massive sword spun past them overhead. Of course, Kara and Naruto were already on the ground. Lucky too, because they probably would have been too distracted by the rabbit to react adequately.

Everyone quickly stood back up to see an ominous figure standing atop the large sword that had become impaled in a nearby tree. Kara saw the look in Naruto's eye. "Don't." She reached forward and tugged on his jacket. "This is real fight. Wait for your orders." She whispered, not wanting to draw attention to either of them at the moment.

"What are you talking about? Real fight?" He whispered back before wondering why they were whispering. The man with the sword was talking to Kakashi; a bit of the usual pre-fight banter.

"Pay attention." Her eyes never left the enemy. "That's a real bad guy. He could kill us without so much as batting an eyelash. We don't even register on his radar. Kakashi-sempai will probably tell us to stay back and protect Tazuna. It's the only thing we can do."

"… But it looks like I'm gonna have to kill you first." The swordsman threatened Kakashi and appeared over the water, creating a heavy mist.

"You guys stay put and protect Tazuna." Kakashi nodded over his shoulder. "Don't worry. I never let my comrades die."

Kara felt a sharp tremor travel up her spine. She spun around and had her right hand caught by the imposing figure. "Is that so?" He pulled her in close as the others fell back. Kara knew that if he got a better hold on her, it would all be over. So she did the first thing she could think of, which was a really bad idea. It was something that Gai-sensei had cautioned her about. With his strength training, it was very possible that you could cause serious injury to yourself if you didn't control your movements. 'Power without control will break every bone in your body.' She remembered his warning. 'Especially with speed and accuracy like yours, Kara. You could end up giving yourself irreparable damage to key stress points if you don't watch yourself.'

The memory was quickly pushed aside at the prospect of her certain death. Kara twisted her wrist around with such speed and force that it snapped and broke, driving shards of bone out of her skin and into the enemy's hand. He growled and let go, knocking her back just as Kakashi stabbed him in the torso.

The shock of the pain was so intense that it made her temporarily deaf. Before her conscious mind could scream out a resounding 'NO', she quickly forced the exposed bone back inside her injured limb. Kara clenched her jaw tightly shut to stop herself from screaming out in agony. All she could do was wait for the numbing sensation caused by a nice combination of adrenaline and shock. _Ah… that's better._ She looked back up in time to see Kakashi go flying into the water nearby. _Ah… and that's not._ Kara staggered back to her feet and resumed her post in front of Tazuna. The only difference was that she stood with a kunai in her left hand as her right hung uselessly at her side.

Sasuke watched her from off to the side. He noted the blood dripping from, what looked like, puncture wounds near her wrist. _What are we supposed to do?_ He asked himself. As his range of vision increased, he saw his sensei trapped out on the water and a water clone of the enemy forming just feet away from him. It dashed forward and knocked Naruto back; his headband crushed under the foot of the clone.

_I can't save them. They have to get out of here or they're going to die._ Kakashi shouted out, "Guys! Take Tazuna and run! He can't go after you if he wants to keep me trapped here! You can't win against him!"

_Focus Kara. Don't lose focus._ Kara tightened her grip on her weapon. She heard Kakashi's orders, but she sure wasn't going to be the first one to cut and run. Naruto was on the ground in front of her, Tazuna was standing behind her and Sasuke stood to her right. "He's right. We can't take him down." She muttered more to herself than to anyone in particular. The pain in her right hand throbbed again. _Focus! Focus darn it!_ Naruto suddenly charged forward. Kara's eyes went wide. _You Idiot!_ He was sent flying back as expected. _What did that accomplish?!_

The brave yet foolish blonde stood up straight and tightened his headband across his forehead. "Hey guys. I've got a plan." His confidence was overflowing and brought hope back to the children's and Tazuna's perspective.

"I told you guys to run! Your job is to protect Tazuna. Now do your duty!" The copy ninja again shouted from his water prison. _God Damn it! Do as I say and get out of here, Kara!_

Kara couldn't ignore the fact that Kakashi was right. It was their job to protect the old man and as much as the idea of running away bothered her right down to the bone, well, she had already passed that point hadn't she? "Hey old man…" She called over her shoulder.

"Don't you kids worry about me. You guys do what ya' need to do." He nodded, probably not fully understanding the gravity of the situation because of his blood alcohol level.

The girl sighed. "Fine then." She looked back to Naruto and Sasuke as the boys worked out the plan. "You guys go ahead without me. I'll stay back and be a plan B." _For in case the highly likely scenario that you both die comes true… at least then we can still complete the mission._

Naruto rushed forward with a grouping of his shadow clones, distracting Zabuza while he disguised himself as a giant shuriken and threw himself up to Sasuke. Much to Kara's surprise and relief, the plan went off without a hitch. Kakashi was free and he didn't seem happy. "That was a brilliant plan, Naruto. I'm impressed." He turned on Zabuza. "Your move."

"I think we should back up a bit." Kara ushered Tazuna backward, but not so far so that she wouldn't be able to watch the show. In the two years she had known the copy ninja, she had never seen him fight. Gai, during one of his slanderous rants, told her that he was the premier master of ninjutsu in Konoha; second only to the Third. Gai of course went on to explain how ninjutsu and Sharingan are meaningless when put side by side with his mastery of taijutsu, but by then Kara had adopted her bad habit of tuning her sensei out whenever he would start up his lectures on strength and youthfulness. Now she would finally get a chance to see real skill in action.

Everything captivated her. The flurry of katas, the columns of water surging into the sky and crashing down to earth, the strength and ferocity of the two ninja's attacks as the battle waged on. Kara's thoughts didn't just wander, they soared; until eventually their waxen wings melted and she plummeted back down to harsh, cold reality. _One of them is going to die._ The statement echoed in her skull. _…Please don't let it be Kakashi-sempai. Please._ She didn't really know who she was begging to, to ensure his safety, but she knew she couldn't live with herself if she didn't at least ask.

Sasuke watched the fight with a similar, yet less romantic, eye. For him, the fight did not last nearly as long as it had in Kara's mind. He felt more threatened than inspired by the sheer gap in ability between him and those above him. _I have a long way to go. I have to become better, stronger than them. I don't have time to waste being weak._

The fight finally moved out of the water. Kakashi was about to deliver the final blow when the opportunity was taken from him. "Thanks for your help." A sweet, young voice chimed from the adjacent treetop. Apparently, the child had thrown two thick needles into Zabuza's throat; killing him instantly.

"Hn." Kakashi checked the body, and content that he had been killed, nodded and let the masked child take it away.

"Who the hell was that?! And how in the hell did they just kill Zabuza like that? I mean, that kid just showed up out of nowhere and BAM he's dead?!" Naruto was outraged at the painfully anti-climatic ending.

"Chill out." The copy nin walked past. "It was a hunter ninja. He was here to kill Zabuza. No big deal. Now then… now that that's been dealt with, why don't we finish our job and get Mr. Tazuna home?" No sooner did he finish his sentence did he fall flat to the ground below.

"Bwah hahaha ha hahaha!" Tazuna burst out laughing at the sight. "Oh boy. You guys were totally shown up! And now you can't even stand!" He kept laughing.

"Hey!" Kara shouted up at him. She was already kneeling beside Kakashi's unmoving body. "Remember how I said you were at the halfway point?" The old drunkard was still chuckling, but nodded. "Now you're three-quarters of the way there." Kara felt for a pulse.

"What's happening? What's going on? Is sensei okay?" Naruto looked to Kara with pleading eyes.

The brunette smiled and nodded agreeably. "I think he's just exhausted. Come on." She stood up and pointed to her two temporary teammates. "You guys carry him."

"Excuse me?" Sasuke crossed his arms obstinately. "Why don't you carry him? Aren't you used to carrying dead weights?"

Kara happily put her hands on her hips and smirked. "I don't like carrying things. That's why I'm here on this mission with you guys, remember? And I think you two should carry him because first off, he's your teacher and secondly, I'm the one with the most experience here. Therefore, it's only natural for me to be in charge until Kakashi-sempai wakes up. And the person in charge never does any real work. Now come on. Which way Mr. Tazuna?" She beckoned him to walk in the front with her.

Naruto lifted up his teacher's left arm while Sasuke, with an air of forced defeat, took up Kakashi's right. "Pretty lucky of us to have Kara here to take charge in all, huh?" Naruto couldn't resist egging his rival on.

"Shut up, baka." The Uchiha grumbled.

"Hurry up boys!" Kara called out to them from down the path. "We want to get there before nightfall."

* * *

**Geez… there were a lot of action sequences in this one. Not exaggerating here, they are a pain in the rear-end to write. I not only have to make it believable but I have to keep your attention, plus my own attention (which is very hard) and still get from part A to part B without droning on monotonously about how 'John threw a punch and Billy dodged. Billy kicked John and he fell back. .'**

**This was a long one. So do please take your time writing out a nice review that lets me know all of your favorite parts (your not so favorite parts), your thoughts and your comments. It's the least ya'll can do seeing as how I took the time to write out all of this stuff that was floating around in my mind for ya'll to read and enjoy. **

**(and for my next impersonation…) Raggle Fraggle!**


	9. A Binding Truce

**Lookie, lookie! I'm finally updating! (Yes, I'm talking to you Siean Horoc. lol!)**

* * *

Chapter 9: A Binding Truce

"Wah!" Naruto shot back as Kakashi's uncovered eye shot open.

Kara looked over her shoulder and giggled at him on the floor. "I told you not to do that." She was standing next to Tazuna's daughter, helping with breakfast as best she could with one hand. Her right hand was still hanging useless at her side only it had been wrapped to avoid infection.

"Ugh…" The copy ninja slowly sat up, holding his head. "How long have I been out?"

Sasuke sat brooding by the window. "About eighteen hours or so." He answered. The kid had not slept very well the night before and was in a crappy mood.

"Yup. You hungry?" Kara swiveled around balancing a pot on her head and a stack of bowls and utensils in her left hand. She carried them over to the table on the other side of the room and gracefully set the table despite her handicap.

"Starving!" Naruto shouted and was the first to reach the table. Everyone else gradually made their way over as well. "Thanks, Kara-chan!"

Kara sat down between the two young boys and nodded. "Yes, well… you really ought to thank Tazuna and his family for being so generous." She nudged the blonde in the side, hinting for him to be a bit more polite. She took a bite of food with her left.

Kakashi noted the switch from her dominant hand. "Hey." He got her attention. "Where's your right hand?" Still chewing, she lifted up the bandaged appendage up to eye level. "What happened?"

"Didn't you see what she did to herself yesterday?" Sasuke answered before Kara could swallow her food. He looked at her with a painfully fake, sweet face. "She's a masochist."

_A maso-what? _Naruto thought, though he kept a majority of his concentration on his food.

Kara kept still. _Seriously? … The sun just rose and he's already starting in with me! Talk about being a jerk!_ Very slowly and deliberately, she swallowed what food she had left in her mouth and turned to face the boy who sat to her left. "Would you like to see me become a sadist?" She spun the chopsticks she had in her hand around with a bit too much dexterity than the raven-haired boy was comfortable with. "Didn't think so." She took another quick bite before answering Kakashi. "I broke my hand getting out of Zabuza's hold."

"You did it on purpose." Sasuke growled under his breath. _You're too reckless. What if you had torn an artery and bled to death?!_

"What? Do you want me to apologize to myself?" Kara sighed, failing to see the problem with her decision to break her hand. "Because I'm not sorry. If I hadn't done it, then I'd probably be dead right now…. Or is that what you wish had happened?" Her mind was beginning to wander, and as a result, so were her words. "Do you wish I was dead? Or do you just miss your pretty little pink-haired girlfriend that much?" The girl's snide remarks did not fall on deaf ears. Sasuke's face was the very definition of forced restraint.

"Guys, just cut it out." Kakashi was still too tired to want to get up and separate them. "Kara, come over here." Obediently, and wholeheartedly grateful to get away from the Uchiha, she moved to sit next to him on the other side of the table. Sasuke continued glaring at Kara with deathly intent.

"Tch." She rolled her eyes and continued eating. "You don't have it in you. You're not a monster like Zabuza was."

"Is." Kakashi leaned forward on the table. "I think he still is."

"Eh?" Naruto looked up from his second helping of food. "What are you saying, sensei?"

Sasuke pushed his empty bowl away. "I knew it. It was too suspicious."

"Knew what?" The blonde looked back and forth between his teammate and teacher.

Kara reached forward and served him more food. "I think they're saying that Zabuza is still alive. But I don't get it." She turned to Kakashi. "Why do you think that? Didn't you check him?"

"Yea, but I'm thinking that it was just a death-like state that he was put in and not actually killed." The copy-ninja broke into one of his little lectures. "Hunter-nin usually kill their targets right on the spot and it's usually in a graphic, obviously lethal, manner. That kid just threw two surgical needles into his neck. Not gory at all. And then he carried him off to an unknown location. Yea, he's most likely still alive."

_Gosh, this sucks!_ Kara scratched at the bandages on her right hand. "What are we going to do?"

Kakashi saw the exasperated look on her face. "Don't worry. Till then, you guys will train and I'll rest."

"Training sounds awesome!" Naruto finished his food and dramatically pushed the empty bowl away. "When do we start!?"

Sasuke, however, kept focused on the more important aspects of the situation. "What about Zabuza? He's still out there."

"I'd guess that we've got about a week till he's up and back in action." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders offhandedly. "I should be fine by then too."

"Well hell! So he's gonna come back and finish the job?!" Tazuna cried out.

Some small child walked into the kitchen. "Yup. You're all as good at dead."

"Huh, who?" Naruto swiveled around to see the little boy. "What did you say, you brat?!" He stood up, ready to pummel the small child for his insult.

"I'm not going to die." Kara spoke in a calm, smug manner, but also stood up to hold back her temporary teammate. "I'm too pretty to die." She did her best to diffuse the situation.

The blonde tightened his fist confidently. "Heh, yea! And I'm too strong! Believe it!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Oh, now I know you're both bluffing."

Kara looked about ready to pounce. She pointed right at him. "Last chance, Uchiha. Quit picking on me or I swear-"

"You swear? You're not a sailor. Quit acting like a badass when you're not one… Harada." He shot back, interrupting the threat that she probably wouldn't have finished anyway.

"Quit being such a jackass, Sasuke." Naruto stood up for the girl that was still effectively holding him back from causing any injury to himself or others. "What'd Kara ever do to you?"

The aforementioned young girl squeezed Naruto's arm. "Thanks, but really, there's no point in talking to him. Some things just run in the family, I suppose."

And that's when things got interesting.

Sasuke rushed forward, over the table towards Kara. She leapt back; her hand was still firmly clasped onto Naruto's arm and she pulled him backwards over the table in front of her. That's where he stayed as a human shield for Kara. The three ended up in a kicking, twisting, punching, scratching, screaming and tearing ball of adolescent aggression. It didn't take two seconds before it turned into a free-for-all, where not one of the three knew who they were fighting against. All that mattered was that one of them had to win.

Kara scrambled out of the pile and stood up just as Naruto was knocked flat on his back and unconscious by Sasuke. The small triumph was short lived. The Uchiha turned just in time to catch a left-handed haymaker from Kara in the cheek. He fell on top of Naruto with a thud. _Oooo… that hurt. She's definitely Gai's student._ Kakashi winced. _I'd know that hit anywhere._ With a sigh and a flip of her hair, Kara sat herself down on top of the two felled opponents. _A bit of an opportunistic victory, but a victory nevertheless, I guess._

"God, you're all so stupid. Gato's gonna make sure you all die." The little boy walked out of the room, glaring at the two comatose and one alert genin.

Kara looked down at the unconscious Sasuke beneath her. "Heh, that kid's more emo than you. Who would've guessed such a thing was possible?"

"Ahem." Kakashi got her attention and then pointed to the table. It was a horrible mess.

"Oh…" Kara sat up and faced Tazuna and his shocked daughter. "I'm awfully sorry about that. We'll clean it up." She bowed curtly and turned around to get the boys… only they were exactly as she left them, out cold.

Kakashi hobbled past her on a pair of crutches. "Yeah, they're not getting up any time soon. Looks like you're cleaning this up all on your own. I'll be outside." He pulled his orange book out of his vest as he made his way out the door.

"This is so unfair." The girl grumbled and dropped her shoulders in defeat as she knelt to start cleaning up the disaster zone.

--

"Hey…" Kara tentatively strode alongside Sasuke as the group followed Kakashi out into the surrounding woodlands. "I, uh… I want to call a truce." She procured a small cloth with a few ice cubes wrapped inside of it and offered it to him.

"Hn.", was the only pathetic response she received. He seemed to prefer the pain caused by the injuries he had sustained earlier than to accept assistance at such a high price.

"Look Sasuke." The young girl rubbed the side of her face. "I don't like all this animosity. It's bad karma. I will promise to not provoke you, if you promise me the same. I'm not saying that we have to be 'bestest friends'--"

"Cause we never will be." He cut in with his monotone voice.

Kara begrudgingly nodded. "Right. But can't we at least let bygones be bygones. I won't mention pink-haired girlfriends and 'family' with you, if--"

The Uchiha again cut in. "If I don't mention idiocy and 'family' with you."

…_grrr._ "So… do we have a deal?" She again offered the ice pack. With a breathless grunt, he put out his hand for the aid. "Good." Kara smiled and helped him place it against his cheek.

"Alright guys. This is as good a place as any." Kakashi stopped walking and turned to face the children. "But before we begin, what do you guys know about chakra?" There was complete silence. It seemed that even the bugs in the trees had no idea what he was talking about. "You have got to be kidding me. Not one of you knows about it?"

Kara looked at Sasuke. He glared back. She was about to open her mouth when she remembered her promise. She sighed and looked in the other direction at Naruto. "That word sounds very familiar." The blonde tapped his chin thoughtfully.

_Oh Lord! _Kara internally face-palmed. "I don't think you're gonna get a decent explanation out of any of us, sempai."

"How do any of you expect to master any jutsu if you don't know what chakra is?" The copy-ninja was having a hard time believing that even Kara had no idea what was going on.

"To quote my sensei, 'It's not what's up here," Kara tapped her head. "It's what's in here." She placed her hand over her heart. "The world does not bow to those with the most intelligence, finesse, or 'coolness', but to those with the most courageous, honourable, and chivalrous hearts.'" Kakashi stared at her as if he were about to smack her. "Don't give me that look, sempai. Those were sensei's words, not mine."

"But just having to hear them should be a crime." He grumbled. _God, what is he turning her into?!_ "Fine, none of you know what chakra is. In short, it's important. In a slightly longer explanation, you need it to use jutsu."

Sasuke finally decided to join the conversation. "We can already use jutsu."

"True. But you're not using it properly. You're wasting it because you don't know how to regulate its flow."

"I can." Kara raised her hand to shoulder height.

Kakashi paused for a moment before continuing. "Okay…" _Actually, I don't think I've ever seen her use a jutsu._ "Prove it. Perform a jutsu and I'll tell you if you're doing it wrong."

The girl fidgeted. Scratching her cheek, she looked up at him with a sheepish smile. "I don't know any good ones."

Kakashi's visible eye twitched. _I am going to kill you, Gai._

Kara noted the irritation and assuming that it was directed at her, she searched her brain for some way to calm him down. "All I know are the basics that they teach you in the academy."

Again the eye twitched with increased aggravation. _She has been out of school for over a year and you haven't taught her anything?! Gai, you bastard!_

"Ummm…." Kara looked around until it finally dawned on her. She was looking at a tree. "I can climb a tree. Would that be proof enough?"

"Any idiot--I mean… anyone can climb a tree." Sasuke forced himself to abide by their truce.

"But can any idiot--I mean… can you climb without your hands?" Kara kept it friendly, but let him know that she had caught his slip.

"What?!" Naruto verbally announced his shock. "That sounds awesome! Can you actually do that, Kara?"

She nodded quickly and walked over to a tree. "Watch." She took a deep breath and focused all her energy to the very best of her ability. With a brief glance over her shoulder to make sure Kakashi was watching, Kara gracefully walked up the tree. She aimed for a low hanging branch and walked beneath it so that she was upside down. "Good?"

"Great." Kakashi's eye curved up in a smile. _Absolutely perfect chakra control. How could I have expected anything less?_ He turned back to look at the two boys still earthbound. "I want you two to do the same. You're not going to be as good as Kara at first, so it would be a good idea to try with a running start."

Kara dropped out of the tree in time to see the two boys' first try from a non-inverted viewpoint. Sasuke almost shot his leg through the tree and Naruto just fell off of it like an old post-it note. She giggled and turned to look up at Kakashi. "So, since I can already do that well…" She pointed to the boys and their trees. "Can I learn something else?"

"Hmmm…." The copy-ninja continued to watch his two actual students' attempts to climb trees. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Kara tried to get him to look at her, to no avail. "When will you know?"

"Depends."

The suspense he was creating was driving her crazy. "Depends on what?" She unconsciously gripped her good left hand on one of his crutches.

Kakashi finally looked down at her. "You wouldn't pull a crutch out from under an injured man, would you?"

A cruel little smile grew under the girl's cheeks. "Maybe." The man's eyebrow went up. "It depends."

Kakashi chuckled at how quickly she caught onto things. "Yea, I think I can come up with something for you. Come on." He started hobbling away on his crutches. "If I teach you here, the boys won't stay focused on their own training."

"Okay!" Kara was going to bound after him, only problem was, he was moving very slowly. She sighed and quickly accepted it. "Bye guys!" She shouted and waved to the two they were leaving behind. "Kakashi-sensei says for ya'll to keep working till dinner time!"

"I didn't say that." The silver-haired man looked over his shoulder at her.

"I know. But you were thinking it, weren't you?"

He shook his head back and forth. "No." _I was actually thinking that I hope you're a fast study. That way I get more time to read my book and recuperate._

--

"So did Gai teach you to walk up a tree?" Kakashi sat comfortably under a tree while Kara scratched in the dirt with a stick.

"Nope. I figured it out by myself." She kicked her leg out and erased part of the picture she had drawn in the loose dirt. "After our first two weeks of conditioning, also commonly referred to as hell on earth, sensei said that he wouldn't accept any missions for us until we could run without our feet and climb without our hands. It took Neji a week to figure out the running part and after he showed me that, I figured out the climbing part no problem."

He was enjoying the way she talked. "Who's Neji?" He asked in an effort to keep her talking.

"One of my teammates. He's part of the Hyuuga clan; the branch family." Kara exaggerated her statement with her arms. "Talk about bitter. He's so ungrateful even though he owes every talent he has to them. He's nearly unbeatable with Byakugan and his juken style." She resumed working on her dirt masterpiece. "He used it on me once. I hit the floor before I realized what happened. Heh, if you think I'm good, you don't want your students to go up against him anytime soon. He can be ruthless."

Kakashi dug through his vest pocket, looking for a certain kind of paper. "I'm sure he's only better right now because he has more experience."

"Meh. I don't want to talk about him anymore. What about you?" Kara finished her drawing. It was a portrait of Guruko with his tongue sticking out.

"What about me?" Kakashi stopped his searching momentarily, knowing he would have to deflect every question she might come up with. Now was still not the right time; too risky.

"Well…" She started. "I've got lots of acquaintances and friends. Do you?"

He shook his head warily, but the question seemed innocent enough to him. "Sure."

Kara raised her eyebrow incredulously. "Excluding Gai-sensei, myself and your students."

"Yeah." He took mock offence to the implication. _What? Does she think I'm some kind of loser?_ "I have friends."

"And are some of them girls?" The young girl's eyes curved slightly upward in an expectant manner.

"………" He remained silent. "This conversation is over. Why don't we figure out what jutsu I'm going to teach you?"

"Aw… you're no fun, sempai." Kara giggled. "I just wanted to know if you have a girlfriend yet and if I could meet her. I haven't really hung out with you in a while and I wasn't sure."

"So, like I was saying. These…" Kakashi pulled a single sheet of paper from his vest pocket and held it between his pointer and middle finger. "Are special papers that can tell you what kind of chakra you have."

"Is she pretty?" Kara ignored the papers. They looked boring to her, despite the fact that he had just claimed that they were 'special'. "Or is she ugly?"

Kakashi couldn't stop himself from dropping the paper to the ground. "Honestly?" He didn't, nor did he actually want to, understand Kara's question. Nevertheless, he asked, "Why would someone date someone else that they didn't find attractive?"

The young child picked up the piece of paper that he had let fall to the forest floor and began folding it into a tiny paper flower. "Okay! So now that we've established that you do have a girlfriend--"

"I didn't say that."

She stopped her folding with a sigh. "So you don't after all?"

Again, the man refused to answer her at all. A threat looked like his only way out. "Do you want to learn an actual jutsu or not? Cause I'm starting to feel kinda tired." He exaggerated the usual tired look of his eye. "Maybe I ought to go back to Tazuna's house and rest."

Kara's bright blue eyes dimmed slightly as she mumbled, "… I wanna learn." She crossed her arms with a pout. Her curiosity would just have to take a back seat for a while. This was more important to her anyway.

"Good." Kakashi huffed slightly and procured another paper. "Now then, these little squares of paper are indicators for what kind of chakra you have."

"Kinds? You mean, it's not all the same?" Her question was honest and came across somewhat eager for further explanation.

He was silent for a moment. _Oh Lord, please tell me that she is not like Naruto._ "Yes. There are five kinds or elements; fire, wind, water, earth and lightning. The paper reacts to a person's chakra by either, turning to ash, splitting in half, turning limp with moisture, crumbling to dust or crinkling up. Watch." He made the sheet he had, crinkle. "See? I have lightning. Now you try." He placed a fresh, unfolded piece of paper in her left hand.

Kara stared at it for about ten seconds before quickly turning around, hiding the paper from the older man's point of view. Quickly, she exposed it to her chakra and was elated with what she saw. "Hehe! Oh wow. That's awesome!" She turned back around with whatever had happened to her paper, hidden up her sleeve.

"What was that?" The copy-ninja stared at the stupid grin on her face with a mixture of confusion and concern.

"Nothing. Now guess what kind of chakra I have." She toned down the ridiculous smile somewhat.

_Well, I know what I'd like for you to have. But I also know what's most common too. _"Uh, I don't know. Earth?"

"Tch." Kara rolled her eyes. "Like I'd have something so boring and mundane."

"Water?" _Not as common, but still pretty average._

Kara tapped her chin thoughtfully and put on a serious face. "That would be terribly ironic, but no. It's not water, thank god."

At the same time that he was becoming slightly irritated with her little guessing game, Kakashi couldn't help but gain hope that maybe… just maybe Kara had strong genes. "Fire?"

"No, but can I ask a quick question?" He nodded. "Can I still learn a fire jutsu, even if I don't have fire type chakra?"

"Yea. I just wanted to find out what kind you have because of what that I wanted to teach you. For what I have in mind, you need to have a specific type."

"Oh, good. Cause eventually I want to know some of that fire jutsu that Sasuke has." Kara shook her sleeve and caught the crinkled piece of paper that fell out, in her hand. "I've got lightning. Just like you. Is that the right kind?"

Kakashi nodded, his pleased smile well hidden under his mask. "It sure is." He stood up and waved for the little girl to move back. "This is what you're going to learn." Obediently, Kara scrambled backwards and sat still patiently waiting. With three quick hand signs, he ran chakra into his hand which exploded with a burst of lightning. The forest was instantly filled with the sound of hundreds, no thousands, of birds chirping. Instead of the obligatory 'wow', Kara kept quiet with a small, confident smile on her face. She could just imagine herself with lightning shooting out of her hand.

Almost as quickly as he had shown it to her, it dispersed. Kakashi was still recovering after all. He slumped back down to the base of the tree he had been sitting under, breathing a bit heavier than before. Kara's smile quickly faded as well, after she noticed just how much strain his display had caused him. "Are you alright?" She knelt in front of him with her hand on his shoulder.

"Yea." He did his best not to pant. "I'm fine. Just a bit winded is all."

Kara shook her head back and forth. "Come on. You should rest." She tugged on his vest lightly, not wanting to actually carry him herself.

"I can rest here while you practice."

"Nope. You need to be in bed. I can train later. I've already memorized the katas you used. I'm sure it's not that difficult of a thing to learn." _Not that memorizing three symbols is all that hard._

_It took me months to figure out and perfect._ "It's harder than it looks." Kakashi slowly stood back up; Kara propping his crutches under his arms. "You have to visualize the lightning."

"Well that should be no problem for someone with excellent accuracy and memory like me. I can hit a target blindfolded and spun around after seeing it only once. Visualization is how I learn everything. And since I've already seen it…" She got him hobbling back toward Tazuna's house. "Besides, I won't be able to form the hand signs well for at least a few days." Kara held up her disabled right hand.

"Alright, alright." Kakashi sighed deeply. "And I know you don't want to hear this, but Sasuke was right. That was incredibly reckless." He tapped her injury. "Don't do something like that ever again, understand?"

His voice, however weak, was stern and hardened with concern. She paused to stare up at him and nodded solemnly. "I understand."

--

It was late, about eleven-thirty to be exact, when the boys came back to Tazuna's house. Kara was sitting up on the kitchen counter playing with a yo-yo. And by 'yo-yo', I mean that she was throwing a kunai straight across the empty room then tugging on a thin wire attached to the handle before it hit the far wall, flinging it back at her face and catching it before any horrific injury could occur. "Hey guys." She yawned. "How was your training?"

There was a slur of mumbles and growls as her answer.

"That's nice." Kara was too sleepy to bother with sarcasm and her remark came across as sincere and borderline interested. "There are some leftovers on the table if ya'll are hungry. Everyone else is already asleep." She took a pitcher of cold water out of the refrigerator and poured the two boys something to drink. The glasses were emptied before she had time to blink. "Oh and Kakashi wants to know how far up the tree you guys have made it so far. He wants me to tell him in the morning."

"Twenty-five feet." Sasuke inhaled his food and another glass of water before standing to leave the room.

Naruto muttered his achieved height. "Seventeen." He served himself an additional bowl of food as his teammate walked out the door.

"Hmmm…" Kara hopped off the counter top and knelt next to the blonde. "Do you want some advice?"

Sasuke stopped just outside the kitchen at the sound of Kara's offer to Naruto. _Kara's advice is usually pretty good._ He leaned back and did his best to catch her words, but after five seconds of not hearing anything he came to the conclusion that she must have been whispering or something. _She… she knows I'm listening? ….Tch. Fine! I don't need her stupid advice. What the hell does she know! Huh?_ He marched off to his room.

Naruto nodded his head fervently. He was in the motion of swallowing his food before he could shout out, 'yes!'.

"Okay." Kara sat quietly for a few seconds, holding her hand up so that the boy wouldn't make a sound. After a few more seconds passed, the two in the kitchen heard the sound of someone stomping down the hallway. "Now that the peanut gallery is gone…" She giggled lightly. "Before you try climbing the tree, you have to relax and stay calm. Focus on sticking to the tree like a lizard. If you go at it like a bat outta hell, you're not going to get very far. Just take it slow and in no time you'll be passing up Sasuke."

"Thanks Kara-chan. I'll remember that tomorrow." Naruto smiled and stood up. "Aren't you going to bed too?"

"Yea. I'm just gonna clean up in here first." She started picking up the mess the boys had left behind. 'ah…' Kara winced when she tried to pick up a small stack of plates with her right hand. It was still too tender and not capable of such a task.

"Don't do that." The young blonde reached down and took all the dishes from her, carrying them to the sink. "Your hand is still hurt pretty bad, isn't it?" His sweet, caring eyes were so tired that they made his compassion all the more selfless.

Kara nodded reluctantly. She wished the stupid, reckless injury would just go away already. "I'll be fine in another week, I'm sure." In truth, it would probably be about a month before her bones healed completely and she knew it. She put on the best smile she could and looked back up into his eyes.

"Of course you will be." Naruto grinned widely; utterly ignorant of the girl's pitiful façade. He yawned deeply. "Oh man. I'm beat. You should get some rest too. Leave the dishes till morning." He waved them off and pushed Kara ahead of himself to the hallway.

"Goodnight Naruto-kun." Kara slipped into her separate guestroom. The boy mumbled a similar farewell as he made his way to the boys' room; already falling asleep as he walked.

--

"Mmmm…" Sasuke woke up to the smell of grilling fish. _That smells good, _his inner voice croaked in his mind. He sat up and glanced at the window. It was still dark out, though in another twenty minutes the sun would likely be rising. There was a loud snore next to him. He flinched and looked to his right to see Naruto sprawled out on the floor, his nose too plugged, with god only knows what, to smell the food. _Ugh. He's such a loser._ The light clatter of pans and dishes caught his ears. "Guess someone's up." He whispered to himself as he rubbed his eyes and decided to go join them.

The room he had slept in was only a few paces from the kitchen, but upon hearing Kara's light laughter, he paused. Sasuke stayed as quiet as he could manage and listened. He could hear the voices of people in the kitchen quite clearly from just outside the bedroom door. Kara was holding back her usually strong laughter at something Kakashi had told her.

_What is it with them? _Sasuke thought. _It's like… like they're so close. I just don't get how they can be so buddy-buddy most of the time. What's so wonderful about Kara? What is she to sensei?_ His thoughts brought him to one conclusion. The young boy quietly sat down on the floor and listened in on them.

"Okay then. I'm going with Tazuna as protection while you rest," Kara pointed to Kakashi. "and while the boys continue they're training."

The copy-ninja nodded. "Yea… I need to seriously rest. But I don't think I want to send you out there alone."

"I won't be. I'll just be sitting out on the bridge with Tazuna."

"Now don't you expect me to babysit you." The old man finished his early morning breakfast and passed his plate off to his daughter, Tsunami. "I've got work to do."

Kara sighed, restrained herself from making a snide comment. "No worries. I'll stay clear out of your way."

"I still don't want you out there alone." Kakashi insisted. "It's likely that Zabuza is still recuperating but that hunter nin is in fighting form." He scratched his head worriedly, remembering the speed and accuracy with which the young boy had intervened a few days earlier. "No, you're not going out alone."

_It's not like I'm incapable of protecting myself. But if he's going to be difficult about it, there's no point in arguing it with him. _"So then, what?" Kara considered the alternatives. "Are you going to send one of the boys with me?"

Kakashi shook his head back and forth and took a knife from the table and pricked his finger. "I'll send Pakkun with you."

Just before he could put his hand down on the ground to complete the quick summoning, Kara caught his hand and looked at him sweetly. "Guruko?" She asked.

The man rolled his eyes and pulled his hand away from her. "Fine. Guruko." He summoned the semi-scatterbrained canine. "But the two of you better stay on guard and not get distracted." He warned them.

"Sure. Sure." Kara quickly scooped the slightly dazed puppy up off the floor with her left arm. "We'll stay sharp." Guruko was not used to being summoned alone and the sudden travel left him stunned momentarily.

"You know, getting to the worksite sometime today would be nice." Tazuna stood in the doorway and tapped his wrist.

"Yeah, you're right. It would be." She answered him; her sarcasm shining proudly. Kara threw her bag, with the dog on top of it, over her shoulder and made her way out the door, waving bye to Kakashi and Tsunami.

It was quiet for a moment and Sasuke was just about to stand back up and walk into the kitchen to satisfy his hunger, when he heard Tsunami speak up.

"That Kara is such a sweet girl. It's hard for me to imagine that she's actually a ninja at times."

"Yea…" Kakashi pulled a napkin off the table and wiped the spot of blood off the floor from where he had summoned Guruko. "I know what you mean."

The woman could tell there was something more behind the ninja's voice. Sometimes a woman can't help but pry. "You're awfully protective of her. But I suppose that's because she's the only girl in your group of students."

"No." He put the napkin back on his plate and passed it up to her. "She's not my student. She's just temporarily with us. But I do suppose I am a bit protective." Kakashi stared at the door Kara had just left through with his weary eye. It wasn't just the exhaustion of his fight with Zabuza that was weighing down on him. It was the burden of keeping the truth secret. Thirteen years is an awful long time. "I just don't want anything bad to happen to her… I guess that's what you do for family." The surprised reaction on Tsunami's face was almost a relief to him. Who was she, anyway? Just some random woman that they would likely never meet ever again. It wouldn't matter if she knew the truth.

"Oh." The shock was obvious. "So, she's your… daughter?"

"Huh? No." Kakashi laughed it off. "She's my niece; my sister's daughter. She and I are all that's left, so she means a lot to me."

… … _What?! She-Kara-is… Oh my god. Are you kidding me?!_ Sasuke held his hand over his mouth to steady his breathing. _But she doesn't call him oji-san. And Kara has a different last name too. I mean, I figured there had to be something there, some reason, but this? _

He paused and considered asking Kara about this curious information, only to remember his truce with her. She won't talk to him about family, if he won't talk to her about family. _I kinda thought she made that provision to make me happy, but she was just trying to hide this, huh? Figures she would think this far ahead. But what's so bad about having Kakashi-sensei as a relative? Why would she want to hide that?_

As Sasuke continued to ponder the circumstances of this situation, Naruto woke up and still half-asleep opened the door to the boys' bedroom. Sasuke was too deep in thought to notice him. Unfortunately, Naruto was too tired to notice him either as he made his way to the kitchen. In less than a half-step, Naruto tripped and collapsed atop the sitting twelve year old boy. "Ack! Get off me you freak!" Sasuke shouted, punching the blonde in the side.

"Ow! Stop that! What's wrong with you? You're the freak!" Naruto, now completely awake, scrambled away. _You're the one sitting in the middle of the hallway… hmph!_ He stood back up and marched into the kitchen, throwing himself down at the table.

Sasuke slumped into the kitchen a second after him, sitting himself down on the other side of the table. He purposely avoided any eye contact with his sensei. He wasn't sure if he had been found out or if Kakashi would assume he had just woken up with Naruto. Just to be safe, he braced himself for some kind of threat or scolding for eavesdropping.

"You boys sleep well?" Kakashi seemed completely at ease and not at all aware that Sasuke had listened in on his conversation with Tsunami.

"Yup." Naruto inhaled his breakfast and bolted out the door. "Going to train. Bye, sensei."

"I slept fine." Sasuke followed Naruto's lead and quickly ate all of the food that was put in front of him. "I should get going too."

"Hey Sasuke-kun." Kakashi caught his attention before he made it out the door. "Kara says that Naruto is probably going to pass the forty foot mark today. I hope you'll progress just as quickly."

The Uchiha grumbled something inaudible and shifted his weight. "Kara says a lot of things, sensei." His words seemed to clearly have a double meaning as he slammed the door behind himself.

_What's that supposed to mean?_ Kakashi sat still for a moment before excusing himself and going back to sleep.

* * *

**I hadn't intended on letting Sasuke in on 'The Secret of Kara' so soon, but the opportunity presented itself and I'm not the type to let opportunity go ignored. :) And just to clarify, "Kakashi did ****NOT**** notice that Sasuke eavesdropped in on him." We're just gonna let that one slide. lol. **

**For those that are curious, this chapter is over 6,200 words long. I was going to break this up some, but since it had been so long since I last posted a chapter, I figured ya'll deserved it for staying loyal readers after such a long stay. Classes are a month away from ending, papers are getting due and finals are on the horizon; so this is fair warning, I'll be a bit worn out and will probably not work on my stories for another month. (so technically it's not a hiatus.). I want to work on them, but I also would like to pass with a GPA over 3.2 so that I can get scholarships for the coming semesters. (God! College is such a drag… no reference intended, but observed.)**

**Halt! I am Reptar! Leave me reviews!  
(lol, I'm so immature for a 19 yr. old!)**


	10. Shy Sparks

****

(Oooo… slight replacement near the end w/Kakashi. Basically the same thing though.)

**I know, I know… I said I wasn't going to post for awhile because I had school. But… hehehe, I've never been the devoted student. I'm that kid in your class that knows everything without trying. :P I just absorb knowledge.**

… **lol. As with all my writing, it just happens. I put my fingers on the keys of my laptop and the words just start coming out. Only main plot points are planned. Minor events and conversations are random, thus making relationships develop with curious outcomes. … lol. In short, Naruto fangirls are gonna love me.**

**Sorry if some parts seem a bit like déjà vu from previous chapters. I needed other characters to hear some of Kara's background… you'll know it when you read it.**

* * *

Chapter 10: Shy Sparks

Guruko skipped along happily at Kara's side. He was always her favorite of Kakashi's dogs. His cheerful disposition and innocent features complimented Kara's better qualities perfectly. "So where are we again?" The little canine bounded a few steps ahead and then waited for the two humans to catch up.

"We're in the Land of Waves." Kara repeated herself. "We are here protecting Tazuna," she pointed to the grumpy looking old man walking beside her. "And he's building a bridge that our enemy doesn't want to get built."

"Awesome!" He crouched down, ready to jump out at the nearest enemy. "Where are the bad guys? I can take 'em!" Kara laughed when the little dog pounced on a stray wrapper fluttering in the breeze. "No, seriously." He stared up at her. "I'm ready to fight. Where are they?"

"They're recuperating in an undisclosed location. We have a few more days until they are expected to strike again." Kara made it sound like an official report. "You and I are just here as a pre… cau… tion." Her attention drifted off as they passed a group of street performers. "Who…?" She pointed in their direction. They looked as fascinating as a grand circus; minus the creepy clowns.

Tazuna rolled his eyes and trudged onward. "Just a bunch of lazy bastards that don't have a real job. They prance around begging for coins while the rest of us try to actually get some work done. What are they doing to help? Nothing! That's what!" He turned around when he realized that Kara wasn't following him anymore. "Oi! The bridge is this way!" She was gliding toward one performer in particular, the fire-breather.

"Kara-chan… come back." Guruko stood at the midpoint between the bridge builder and the performers. "We have to stay with Tazuna-san." The dog cocked his head to the side as she continued to move forward.

The young girl wasn't listening to either of them anymore. All she could see and hear was the fire. The bright, awe-inspiring display the fire-breather put on reflected back twice as brilliant in her eyes. "Hey there, darling." The man rinsed his mouth out and spit to the side. "Did you like my little performance there?"

Kara nodded her head furiously. "How do you do that?" Her blue eyes glistened with a yearning to understand. "Could you teach me?"

Her request caught the man a bit off guard. "I… I don't know. It's pretty dangerous and you're such a delicate thing." He noted the scowl on Tazuna's face a few yards away. "Plus I think you're grandpa there wouldn't be very happy with me if you got hurt."

Kara swiveled around and saw the same dissatisfied frown. "Wait one second." She told the street performer and ran over to Guruko. "Hey. Go with Tazuna. I'll be there after awhile. Thanks. Bye." She kissed him on his forehead and pushed him toward the grumpy old man as she ran back to the fire-breather.

"But… but, Kara." The dog mumbled after her. He sighed dejectedly and plodded over to the bridge builder. "Come on, Tazuna-san." The old man stared at the dog with a mixture of anger and confusion. "Kara says that she'll catch up. Don't worry," Guruko added. "I'm a ninken so if there is any real danger I can probably handle it."

Grumbling something indiscernible, Tazuna walked on with the small dog leaving Kara to her newest learning endeavor.

--

"Oh man…" Naruto huffed as he sat at the base of the tree; his legs sprawled out before him. "This is hard!" His gaze went up to the twenty nine foot mark that he had just barely reached. It then shifted over to see the forty one foot mark that his teammate had just attained. _Damn you Sasuke!_

_Hehe…._ Sasuke lay out on the ground, staring up at his progress on the tree trunk. _Take that Kara! I beat your stupid prediction for Naruto. Bet you didn't think I could, huh?! Ha, I am so awesome._ He rolled his head to the side and glanced at Naruto and his measly twenty nine feet. "I guess whatever advice Kara gave you wasn't good enough, eh?"

"OH YEAH!?" The blond shot up to his feet and stood before his tree. "I'll show you…" He whispered under his breath. Sasuke just continued to stare, unimpressed.

Very slowly, with the utmost concentration he was capable of, Naruto took several deep breaths; focusing all his chakra to his feet. Then, with a quick burst of speed, he raced up the tree trunk, lowering his center of gravity as best he could to aid his attempt. _Just… a little… further!_ He urged himself in his mind. _Ugh! NO!_ He felt himself lose control and quickly lashed out with a kunai to mark his place.

Naruto fell to the ground panting heavily, but smiling widely as he noted the large gap between his latest mark and his much lower ones.

_WHAT!? _Sasuke stared, open-mouthed, in disbelief. His haughty attitude all but evaporated now.

"Woo-hoo! Would'ja look at that! I made it higher than you!" Naruto fell back into the dirt, pleased with his accomplishment. "I guess Kara is good enough… or her advice… or whatever it was that you said… What did you say again?" He rolled over onto his side to get a better look at his rival.

Sasuke's features had transformed from ones of shock to those of pure rage. "That doesn't count, loser!" He growled. "You made it barely six inches higher than me!"

"A few inches can make all the difference." Naruto grinned wider. He was too high on adrenaline to let the sore loser get to him at the moment.

Without another second of hesitation, Sasuke sprinted up the tree in an effort to surpass his competition. Whether that competition was Naruto's mark or Kara's near constant superiority, was significantly blurred in his mind. It's like they were one person combined to make the most irritating duo whose sole purpose was to make him feel like an idiot. _Damn her… damn them!_

--

"Kara-chan! Where have you been?" Guruko sprinted toward her as she walked out onto the bridge. "You've been gone for hours!" He leapt into her waiting arms.

She snuggled him close. "Oh, I was just learning the most awesome-est thing ever. Sorry it took so long though." Kara walked back to the pile of crates that the dog had been sitting by. "Hey Tazuna-san! I'm back!" She shouted.

The old man grunted in reply and continued on with his work.

Guruko licked her face and then spat to the side. "Yuck! Why does your face taste like burnt lighter fluid?" He squirmed around and Kara dropped him to the cement while she sat up on one of the wooden crates.

"I told you. I learned how to fire-breathe. It's not exactly katon-jutsu but it's a start. Wanna see?" Kara excitedly pulled out a bottle of paraffin wax, a lighter and an unlit torch.

The information and procured items effectively scared the small dog senseless. "NO! Oh my god! No, Kara! Do you have any idea how mad Kakashi will be if he finds out I let you do that!? You could blow up! You'll be burned!" He jumped up onto the crates and examined her closer. "Look at you. You're skin looks burned already!"

Kara looked down at her arms and legs. "Oh it's no big deal. I'm just a little sun-kissed, is all. I've been around giant balls of flame all day." She hopped off the crate with a small laugh and skipped a few paces away from Guruko and the construction that was going on. "Just watch."

Kara lit the torch and set the lighter on the ground, picking up the bottle of flammable liquid and taking a swig of it. She paused for dramatic effect, smiled and then spit up at the torch that was held high above her head. Though the fireball was not as impressive as the professional they had seen earlier; for a beginner it was amazing.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Tazuna rushed over and knocked the torch out of her hands. "This is a construction site not a circus! What if you lit one of my workers on fire?" Kara wiped the excess wax off her mouth with her sleeve, hardly noticing the old man's anger. "Just wait till your sensei hears about this!"

_Heh, if Gai-sensei found out, he would probably just call me rebellious and then hug me. _The young girl stared up at him with mock confusion. "You know Gai?" Tazuna's eye twitched before he stormed off to continue his work. "Hmph." Kara bent down and collected her things and went to sit with Guruko again. It slowly hit her. "… Kakashi's gonna be really mad now, isn't he?"

"Yup." Guruko laid his head down in her lap. "You might have gotten a warning if you had just showed up with a sun burn. But now… with Tazuna pissed off…" He sighed. "We're both in for it."

"Hmmm…" Kara gingerly stretched her right hand; finger by finger. "Maybe not." The dog's eyes followed her movements. "Maybe if I learn that lightning thing he showed me, he won't be mad that I wasted time learning to breath fire."

_He'll be mad about 'breathing fire'. Not 'wasting time'. Wait… what? Lightning? _Guruko sat up and looked at Kara with a near catatonic stare. "Lightning?" The corner of his mouth twitched. "He showed you 'lightning'?" It twitched again. Kara nodded as she slowly moved her right hand into position for the hand signs, fearing that if she went any faster it would cause further damage to the ligaments. "Chidori?"

"Is that what it's called?" Kara closed her eyes and tried focusing on the sound the technique made. "He said I could learn it if I wanted to. I figure it'll make him happy if I do. So…" She took deep breath and focused as much of her chakra as she could into her left hand. There was a sharp, tingling sensation. Kara opened her eyes and looked at her fist. There was nothing there. _Gosh, that's weird. No lightning, but it feels like I have my hand in an electrical outlet. I wonder if that's normal. If it is, then I wonder how I get the electricity to come out._

"Wow…" Guruko was also staring at Kara's fist. "You're real close to getting it. When did you start learning it?"

"A day or so ago." She stopped flooding the spot with chakra. The building pressure was beginning to hurt without an outlet to escape. "Why?"

_You just don't know how amazing you are! You really are a Hatake at heart. A natural born genius! _The dog jumped up and licked her face. "I love you, Kara-chan." He kept licking her, despite the lighter fluid taste, until she pried him off of her.

"Well, I love you too, silly puppy." Kara rubbed her forehead. She felt a slight headache coming on.

--

"Move it, loser!"

"You move, jackass!"

The two boys pushed and shoved past each other as they stumbled into Tazuna's kitchen. "I said, get out of my way!" Sasuke threw an elbow and made it to the quiet table first.

"Owwww…" Naruto nursed his injured ribs and sat down next to him. "You don't have to hit so hard, Sasuke-kun. Geez." He looked around the table and noticed that the only person missing from the room was Kara. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei. Where's Kara-chan?"

"She wasn't feeling well." The man answer seemed rough and slightly frustrated.

Naturally, Naruto did not notice the tone of his sensei's voice. "What's wrong with her?" He dug into the food set before him.

"What do you care, baka?" Sasuke was closer to finishing his food than his teammate. "She's not feeling well, get over it. Most likely she just did something stupid and is paying the price for it." _Like with her wrist. Completely idiotic._

Kakashi shared his student's sentiments right down to the letter. "You're not too far off from the truth, Sasuke-kun. Kara decided it would be fun to learn to breathe fire." _She was just too impatient to ask me to show her how, the right way with chakra… not combustible fluids._ "Apparently, it's not the healthiest thing to inhale large quantities of smoke or to ingest a moderate amount of flammable liquid." His voice was thick with sarcasm and irritation. "She's sleeping it off."

"Poor Kara." Naruto finished his food and filled a glass with some water. "I'm gonna take her some water."

"I'm sure she'll be grateful, Naruto." Kakashi called after him as he left the room. "She'll also be unconscious but it's the thought that counts." He muttered in a lower tone before turning his attention back to his remaining student at the table. "How's the training going?"

Sasuke's eyes slowly looked up at his teacher. "Fine. I'm about halfway up the tree. Naruto's still behind me at about fifty feet."

"Hmm… That's good. I guess Kara underestimated how quickly the two of you would progress." He idly spun a chopstick around in his hand.

_Grrrrrr….. Always! Kara this! Kara that! What the hell man!_ Sasuke fumed silently. "Well, I guess Kara doesn't know everything." His voice ground out.

The comment caught Kakashi a bit off guard. "I didn't mean to say she did." He took a closer look at the boy sitting across from him. "Is everything okay, Sasuke-kun?"

_Aside from the fact that picture-perfect Kara gets to have everything?! She gets to have family and I don't! She thinks she just so damn special; walking up trees and learning how to fire-breathe! Screw her, I don't care anymore! _"Yea. Just a little worn out. I'm going to bed." Sasuke stood up and excused himself quietly.

As he walked past the washroom, he could hear voices coming from Kara's room. _Huh?_ His steps faltered for a moment. _Wait. No. I don't care anymore; remember?_ He tried to force himself onward to his shared room with Naruto, but couldn't quite manage. The teenager knelt down and pressed his ear against the wall and listened intently. _Just for a minute._ Sasuke compromised with himself. _A minute and nothing more._

Kara chugged down the water. "Thanks Naruto-kun." She wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

"No problem." He took back the glass and set it down next to him on the floor. "Hey, guess what."

"What?" The fourteen year old girl nodded her chin up, curious.

Naruto crossed his arms proudly. "I made it all the way to fifty-two feet on the tree."

Kara smiled widely and threw her arms around him. "That's wonderful! I knew you could do it!" She released him with a slight blush. "Heh, sorry." There was a slight awkward silence. "Yea… I'm glad you're doing so well. I'm sure Sasuke is getting better at it too right?"

"Oh sure." Naruto was glad the room was dimly lit. He couldn't wipe the blush off of his own face as quickly as Kara had. "He's ahead of me, but I'll pass him up soon." There was another moment of silence. "So you know how to breathe fire now?"

Instantly, Kara's mood picked up. "Yea! It's awesome! I'll have to work on not swallowing the wax though." She patted her stomach sheepishly. "You should see me. I look as good as Sasuke and his fire jutsu."

_Oh, I seriously doubt that._ Sasuke scoffed as he continued to listen to the conversation.

"Only it's a lot more dangerous." Kara added.

_What the hell? My jutsu is plenty dangerous! … grrrr…. I'll show you dangerous…._ The young Uchiha continued to listen closely when he felt something jab him in the side. "Ow…" He whipped around to see Kakashi standing over him.

"What are you doing?" His sensei asked him.

"… um. I dropped my toothbrush." Sasuke slowly slid up the wall to stand.

"That makes a lot of sense." Kakashi glanced down at the boy's empty hands. He turned his attention to the wall. _Eavesdropping, eh? I wonder what's so interesting._ "Go to bed, Sasuke." The thirteen year old nodded, slumped down the hall to his room and shut the door. "Now then…" Kakashi switched his crutch to his other side and leaned against the wall, listening in on the second half of Kara and Naruto's conversation.

"Wow that sounds so cool." Naruto fidgeted around where he sat. "But how did you learn it?"

"I saw this street performer near the outskirts of town. And well… promise not to tell anyone?" The blonde nodded fervently. "Well, I've been kinda jealous of Sasuke. Fire is just so exciting and risky and he's just so good at it. And when I saw that fire-breather, I thought that I could learn it and be like him." Naruto stared at her blankly for a moment. "Remember, you promised not to tell anyone."

He came back out of it. "Oh don't worry. I won't tell a soul. Lord knows that bastard doesn't need anymore fangirls."

Kara glared at him. "I'm not a fangirl."

"Sure you're not."

"Out." Kara stood up, grabbing him by the hair and dragging him to the door. "Just get out, Naruto-kun."

"OW, ow, Owww!" She let his hair go. "Aw, Kara-chan! I was messing around! I know you're not a fangirl of his. Hell, if anything he's you're fanboy!"

Both Kara and Kakashi, listening in from outside, twitched at the mention of the word.

"What?" Kara's eyes turned into narrow slits. "Ew, gross! Are you kidding me?! Fanboy? I don't want one of those!" She retreated to the center of her room and rubbed her arms in a consoling fashion.

"Well, he is… kinda… I think." Naruto stood up and shook out his hair. "He's always staring, well… glaring at you. I figure he either really hates you or really likes you."

Kara's shoulders relaxed. "Oh. Gosh, that's a relief. He hates me. I can accept that. It makes more sense anyway."

"Why would he hate you?" The blonde took a step toward her. "You're smart, talented… pretty." He glanced off to the side, tense and afraid of how his compliment would be taken. Sakura usually responded with physical violence.

_And here I thought the boy was deaf, dumb AND blind._ Kakashi rolled his eyes at his student's nearly inept flirting with his niece.

"Heh, thanks." Kara scratched her cheek, a bit unsettled by his words, but she stayed focused on his leading question. "But, um… how much do you know about him? About Sasuke?"

"I… um… what about him?" Nothing could bring him out of his blushing stupor faster than mentioning the one boy whose personal mission was to make him look bad… all the time.

Kara brushed her hair back behind her ears and found a spot on the floor she was comfortable staring at. "His family. It's why he has good reason to hate me." Naruto remained silent. He already understood the basics of this story.

… _his family? He can't possibly blame Kara for what happened, can he?_ The copy ninja silently readjusted himself to hear the discussion better.

"You see…" Kara picked up her end of the conversation again. "His brother… he…" The words were proving hard to come by. "Well, to over simplify it, Sasuke despises his older brother and I don't." She looked back up at Naruto. "He hates me because I kinda… admire his brother."

_What?! She what?! _It took everything in Kakashi to hold back and contain his shock. _He massacred his entire family and she ADMIRES him? How can she ADMIRE that? How could I have overlooked something like this?_

Naruto looked back at her, stunned. "But he…"

"I know." The girl snapped back to her usual cheery self. "I don't approve of 'that', but 'that' isn't the only thing he ever did." Her smile was nostalgic. "You know, he saved me once." She shook her head back and forth, pushing the strong emotions to the side. "He saved me when no one else would."

Kakashi leaned away from the wall. _I had no idea Kara felt that way. She can overlook and forgive so much. … Maybe there's hope for me yet._ He gracefully took his leave. The kids on the other side of the wall wouldn't have noticed the sound of his departure anymore than that of a roach scurrying across the floor.

"I am who I am and Sasuke is who he is, because of him." Kara walked forward and caught Naruto by the shoulder leading him to the door. "So, does that answer your question?"

"Meh." Naruto shrugged his shoulders, ready to be done with the overly-depressing topic. "I still think Sasuke's into you." He tapped his chin. "In fact, I'm sure of it now. You're the only girl he starts conversations with; instead of just ignoring them… like he does with Sakura and Ino." The boy paused for a moment as he fumed over the undue attention his rival always got instead of him. "And you're the only girl I know that he grumbles about when he thinks no one is listening." Kara slowly and deliberately blinked at him. "It's true. Most people don't think I catch things," he wagged his finger at her. "but I do."

Kara did her best to restrain a grin as she pushed him out the door and into the hall. "Sure ya' do, Naruto-kun. Sure ya' do." She rolled her eyes and leaned against the door frame. "The day you catch on, the day you really impress me, will be the day that I believe all that dribble that just came tumbling out of your mouth. Night."

_Hmph! She doesn't believe me. Well, at least the only girl that Sasuke is obsessed with, for whatever reason, doesn't obsess over him._ Naruto thought smugly as he walked back to his bedroom.

Kara slid the door shut with her bare foot and wormed her way back into her bed. _'sigh' Oh boy… too much to think about. _Kara held her hands above her and started running over the hand signs for Chidori, as Guruko called it. It worked the same way as counting sheep, only she gained experience instead of just wasting time. _Ox, Rabbit, Monkey… Ox, Rabbit, Monkey… Ox, Rabbit, Monkey…_ She repeated over and over again. Her right hand didn't hurt anymore when she moved it, but she was still careful not to push her luck.

"I wonder…" Kara whispered to herself. She made the hand signs again, only this time, she gradually allowed chakra to flow into her left; she was still a bit hesitant to include her right hand in any serious work. Her eye doubled in size upon seeing her hand in the dark. Faint, rapidly moving, red and white electric currents were twitching and flashing just beneath her skin. "… wow." She could feel the lightning burning and snapping, but still refusing to come out. "Ow, okay. That's enough." Kara whispered for her own benefit and stopped her flow of chakra. She rolled over on her side and yawned deeply. _Guess it's just gonna take some time till the sparks are less shy._

* * *

**Did ya'll know… that at the time of this posting I know for a fact that there are 24 of you that are notified of this story's update. But I'm only averaging 4.8 reviews per chapter. That means that I'm only getting a 20 percent review ratio for how many of ya'll are for-sure reading my story. Why did I pull out the scary numbers you may ask? Because I'm vain, narcissistic and needy. (lol! It's true! And that just makes it funnier!) Leave me comments, reviews and (if you have 'em) critiques. I'm all ears. **

**I am the performer on the stage and I'd like to know that there's an audience behind the blinding lights of the theatre! (At present, I can only hear 4.8 of you. lol)**


	11. Something Tells Us

**I need to stop making promises and claims. This is the second chapter that I've posted since I said I wasn't going to post any until finals are over. Their still a week and a half away. Gosh, I can be awfully unreliable, eh?**

**Erg… arg… more action sequences. (Yes! That's right! Kara finally gets a real fight! … it kinda takes away from Sasuke, but hey he shouldn't complain. He gets to hook up with her eventually.)**

**P.S.-F.Y.I. I altered a teeny tiny section of the previous chapter. It's near the end where Kakashi was eavesdropping. The change doesn't alter the story in any way, it just makes more sense. :) Apologies.****Also, I guess the numbers did scare ya'll. I got like eight reviews! Woo! I'm over 50 finally! **

* * *

Chapter 11: Something Tells Us…

"You sure you're all better?" Kara stared up at Kakashi as they stood out on the front porch waiting for Tazuna.

"Fit as a fiddle." He patted her on the head. "Ready to go, Tazuna-san?"

The old man grumbled something indiscernible from inside as he made his way out to meet the three ninja waiting for him. "Yea, yea. What about the blonde runt? Ain't he coming?"

"He's still worn out from last night." Kakashi brushed off the comment and gestured for the bridge builder to take the lead. "He can use the rest and catch up to us later."

Sasuke smirked haughtily. The two boys had both made it to the top of their trees the night before, but Naruto was still too tired to even wake up. "Why are you smiling?" Kara whispered in his ear. He whipped his head around to stare back at her, unaware she had been watching him. Instead of answering her, he just morphed his smirk into a scowl, shoved his hands into his pockets and followed Tazuna.

"Oookay." Kara followed suit and went after the old man.

The walk out to the worksite seemed to take longer than usual because it was mostly in silence. Kakashi was reading his book, Sasuke was strutting in a bout of emo and, while Kara was wide awake and eager for conversation, she didn't want to talk to Tazuna.

As the small group made it to the far end of the bridge, a strange, familiar mist descended upon them. "Stay sharp, guys." Kakashi motioned for Sasuke and Kara to take defensive positions around Tazuna. "He's here." In the next instant, a dozen water clones of Zabuza appeared out of the mist.

Kara grinned confidently. _Finally! I get some action!_ She pulled three kunai out of her pockets; two in her left, one in her right. "Can I?" She begged.

"Have at it." Kakashi nodded and she took off.

She averaged about a sixth of a second per clone, moving too fast to be seen by normal eyes. Not a single motion was wasted. Every movement worked to both destroy the target before her and propel her forward into the next. When her brief attack was finished the mass of clones collapsed into a circular spray of water.

_Damn. I didn't realize she was so fast. _Sasuke had blinked and missed half of the show.

Kara stood elegantly in her place; like a performer upon completing a simple, flowing routine. _Ah… almost too easy. _

"My, my. Looks like you've got some competition, Haku." Zabuza patted his young apprentice on the shoulder.

"So it does." Without another moment of hesitation, the masked boy charged forward. This time, Kara didn't wait for Kakashi's permission. She threw herself forward, countering the offensive motion flawlessly. "Impressive. You managed to block me." The boy's soft voice did not match his actions.

Kakashi called over to Sasuke. "Stay in front of Tazuna and close to me. We're going to let Kara handle that boy."

_Oh of course! Let Kara be the hero! _Sasuke's thoughts were slathered in sarcasm. "Talk about nepotism…" He whispered under his breath as he took his position guarding the bridge builder.

"I'd really hate to kill you." Haku whispered to Kara as they stayed locked in combat. "But it doesn't seem to be in your nature to give up."

"How observant of you." Kara remarked; thoroughly enjoying the polite manner in which the young assassin spoke.

"You may have been lucky enough to have blocked my first attack, but you won't be able to keep up with my speed. Now you will only be able to run from me." The boy's free hand contorted as he made one-handed katas. "Flying Water Needles.", he completed the attack.

All of the water left on the ground from the clones Kara had destroyed, shot up into the air around them and formed into a thousand needles that all converged on the spot where she stood. _Tch… amateur. You don't know the meaning of speed. _Kara thought as she glided to the side.

She waited until her opponent realized his attack missed, before throwing a single shuriken at his position. Haku somersaulted backwards without losing a beat only to be caught from behind. Kara stood behind him with a kunai at the back of his throat. "Don't underestimate me."

"I don't think I am." Haku dodged as Kara swung her arm out, missing his neck by mere millimeters. He only managed to evade two punches before her left foot connected with his collarbone, knocking him several feet away. _Though I must admit, you are faster than most._

"Hehe…" Kara couldn't wipe the smile off her face. "Guess I'm faster than you, eh?" She tapped her foot in the ground, mockingly.

"Haku, it looks like you're going to have to get serious if you don't want to be driven back." Zabuza's voice boomed through the mist; an unquestionable order.

Haku stood back up, completely unfazed by the attack that landed him flat on his back. "Yes, I'm afraid I'll have to show you my true speed." Kara braced herself for an impending attack, only to feel a cold breeze snap through the air around her. She watched as the water on the ground was swept up into the air and frozen into thin panels of ice. "Demonic Ice Mirrors.", Haku's voice sounded out all around her.

_This isn't good._ Kara quickly spun around, realizing that she was completely surrounded by panes of ice mirrors; every one of which had the image of Haku in them. "A bit narcissistic, but definitely intimidating." She nodded her head to her enemy. "But I don't think it'll be enough to stop me." _Nothing melts ice faster than fire! _Kara reached into her pack and in an instant was breathing a massive fireball at the first mirror in front of her.

It did nothing.

"Fire that weak cannot touch my ice." The many images of Haku raised their arms and swung, sending a shower of needles down upon Kara.

She tried to restrain herself, but the sudden shock of the assault was too much to resist and she screamed out. "AAAAHHHH!"

The shout painfully echoed in Kakashi's ears. "Kara!" He instinctively dashed forward only to make a few paces before he was face to face with Zabuza. _Dammit!_

"Ah, ah, ah. If you go off to save that pretty little brat, I'll kill the other two behind you." The rogue mist ninja's eyes narrowed in a cruel smirk. "Is she really worth that?"

_God fucking dammit!_ Sasuke cursed in his head over and over again. _Why does Kara have to be such an idiot?! She's gonna get herself killed!_ He glanced back at Tazuna. _I can make a run for it. I'll pull her out of there and then I'll take on Haku myself. She can stay back here and provide protection for the old man. Yea, but first some cover._ Sasuke charged forward a few steps, hurling a kunai ahead of himself, aimed at the nearest mirror.

The barrage of needles stopped momentarily as Haku, with all the grace of an eel, reached out of the mirror and caught the weapon. _He caught it! Damn._ Sasuke skidded to a halt and watched, somewhat confused, as an unseen attack connected with the exposed enemy. _What?_

Out of a giant cloud of smoke, announcing his presence to the world, jumped Naruto. "Never fear! Uzumaki Naruto is here to save the day!"

Kara smiled where she lay in the center of the ring of mirrors. _Well, it's about time. He can break this jutsu from the outside and get me out of here._ She crawled into a crouching position and looked up to see Naruto stooped down with her. "……" Kara stared at him silently, having to completely rethink her strategy now.

"Hey. I'm here to save you." The blonde grinned happily.

"I can see that. Nice entrance by the way." She sighed, annoyed to no extent, as she stood up straight. He stood with her, the proud smile still plastered on his face. "You do realize now both of us are trapped in here right?"

"Trapped?"

"Yea." Kara kept still, watching the many copies of Haku wearily. "Brace yourself. Here he comes again."

Another flurry of needles flew down, striking the pair, but not injuring them to the point of death. "Ack! Where is he coming from?!" Naruto shouted and scrambled back to his feet.

"No time to figure that out! Fight back with your Shadow Clones!" Kara ordered him as she forcibly removed three needles from the back of one of her arms. Blood slithered out of the wounds, staining everything it touched. "Now!"

Happy to have not remained a sitting duck, the genin shot forward, a dozen clones appearing and heading in their own directions as well. Kara waited and watched patiently for her opening. _There!_ She dashed forward and managed to hit one of the mirrors before being knocked back. _If that doesn't work, I don't know what will!_

"That didn't do anything!" Naruto leaned against Kara's back.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Watch." She nodded to the mirror she had reached and counted backwards. "3…2…1… !!!" A colossal and sudden explosion rocked the bridge. The pair collapsed under the shaking.

"What the hell was that?!" Naruto shouted louder than was necessary in Kara's ear.

She held up a thin sheet of paper between her fingers. "About five of these." It was a highly explosive and reactive bomb. Kara returned her attention back to the target, or what should have been left of it. As the smoke cleared, her worst fears were realized. There was a slight crack in the mirror that promptly healed itself. _Darn it! I've tried weapons, taijutsu, fire-breathing and bombs! That's all I had left! …unless…_ She looked down at her fists, trying to recall the burning, snapping feeling which was the immense amount of lightning just beneath the surface of her skin. But it was useless. As much as she wanted to draw on that power all it ever did was cause her pain. To struggle with an unperfected technique would be a waste of time and energy, two things that absolutely cannot be used up so callously in a situation like this. _No… can't use it._ "Hey."

"Huh?" Naruto was on his knees, wincing from the sting of the needles in his flesh.

Kara raised her eyebrows in a pleading gesture. "Got any ideas?"

--

The bridge shook from a large explosion, knocking Tazuna to the ground. But Sasuke held his footing. _Did they do it? Did they break the jutsu?_ _Damn it, I can't see anything from here._ The Uchiha strained his eyes trying to see through the thick mist, but it was pointless. _I can't even see Kakashi-sensei. _He glanced briefly back at the bridge builder. _This isn't good. _

"What do we do now?" Tazuna stood back up, fear becoming ever more present in his eyes.

Sasuke remained silent. _Just stay one step ahead. Concentrate… concentrate._ He felt a disturbing presence appear behind them. "Move!" He shouted, grabbing the old man's arm and pulling the two of them out of the way just in the nick of time. Kakashi appeared at the same moment, standing where they had just been, taking the hit for them.

"Good, Sasuke. Keep Tazuna out of the way." The copy ninja clutched the wound on his chest, seemingly not as concerned about it as everyone else.

"What about Kara and Naruto?" The young boy couldn't stop himself from asking. "They need my help."

"Don't worry about them. It will only distract you. Have some faith. Kara's smart and Naruto's unpredictable. They'll be fine." _I hope…_ Kakashi didn't let his eyes leave his opponent's for even a second. _I have to stop thinking about them and focus on this fight. She'll… they'll be fine. They have to be._

"You're really pathetic you know that, Kakashi?" Zabuza's taunts knew no end. "So preoccupied with saving these precious children of yours, that you've lost your edge. No need to fret over it though. Haku's probably finishing them off as we speak and then I'll send you to hell right after them." He disappeared into the mist again. "I'll finish this quickly."

Kakashi called over his shoulder to Sasuke. "Stay on your guard and don't move." He charged forward into the mist, disappearing as abruptly as the demon before him.

_Yea, fine. I'll stay put. But the second it's over, I'm going to get Kara out of there._ Sasuke temporarily resigned himself.

Suddenly there was a huge surge of chakra in the air; something dark, evil even. _No, what is that? _Kakashi paused where he stood in the mist. _Naruto? It can't be! It doesn't feel like a complete break so we'll be fine for now._ He shook his head and refocused himself. _Ugh… stop thinking about them. Just think of killing Zabuza. Kill Zabuza. …easy._

"Are you listening to me Zabuza? Cause allow me to explain something very simple to you." Kakashi regained his composure and continued toward the end of the battle. "I didn't get this far in life just because of my Sharingan. I've been in ANBU and I know plenty of ways to end this fight much quicker than you ever could. And to be frank, I don't feel like wasting any more time with you. So if you don't mind, I think I'll end this right here and right now."

"Hahaha…" The mist ninja's dark chuckle echoed through the dense air around them. "By all means, I too have grown tired of biding my time. The sooner you die the better."

Kakashi pulled out a small scroll and with a flash of hand signs, summoned his dogs to sniff out the enemy. It took only seconds before they erupted out of the earth and captured Zabuza with their razor sharp jaws. A shout of surprise and fury boomed in the misty void. _Ah… almost too easy._

--

Naruto's orange jumpsuit was stained red with the blood from his injuries. He wasn't as good as Kara when it came to avoiding them. And with this last barrage, he could hardly move.

"C'mon Naruto-kun." Kara encouraged him from where she stood about six feet away. "We can't stay still. You have to keep moving." She put on a brave face, but she was feeling the effects of Haku's attacks just as much as he was. There were bloody scratches and gashes all over her arms and torso along with the occasion grouping of needles that managed to stick into her. The resemblance to a porcupine would have been her joke of choice had the pain not been so draining on her sense of humor.

Up until this point, a majority of Haku's needles had been trained on Kara. She was the one that initially kicked his ass and made him look like a useless fool in front of Zabuza; something the boy's psyche couldn't handle. _You seem to be good at evading my more deadly attempts. But now, you're going to run straight into it._ "With this last attack, I will finish you." His polite warning to Kara was unsolicited, but thoroughly appreciated.

_Right… I may not be able to see the attack, but I can predict his movements after watching him all this time. It takes him .4 seconds to raise his arm, .3 seconds to launch and .7 to reach his target…me. Total time… 1.4 seconds. I can out run a 1.4 second attack, no problem._ Kara kept a purposely overconfident grin on her face; a fitting façade that she hoped would keep the young assassin's attention on her.

Unfortunately, the boy understood her better than she had anticipated and instead shot out at the currently immobilized Naruto.

_What!? No! _"Naruto! Move!" Kara shouted as she sprinted to close the gap between them. She made it just in time.

"Kara-chan?" The blonde opened his eyes to see Kara standing over him. In his slow moving mind he had looked up right when she called out to him. Gradually, his field of vision expanded. What he saw was Haku lying on the ground by one of his mirrors. "You got him." He struggled to his knees and reached out to the girl that had just saved his life. Then he truly saw her.

The needles that had been intended for his chest and neck had found a home in hers.

"Kara! W-why? Why did you…?" He caught her as she fell back into his arms.

She weakly shrugged her pierced shoulders. "Had to." Kara's chest shook as she chuckled roughly at the best reasoning her dying mind could come up with. "Don't think… Kakashi would be very happy if I… let one of his students… die." Her breathing became more shallow and distant as a thin trail of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth.

"Kara? Kara, stop it. That's not funny! Kara!" Naruto wanted to shake her body back and forth, desperate to keep her talking. But the sight of her injuries kept his arms at a tremble.

"She died a noble death." Haku's words stabbed into him, draining the sorrow and leaving room for anger to manifest. "She sacrificed herself to save her dear comrade. You should be proud."

"Shut up…" Naruto leaned forward over Kara's unmoving body, an insidious red chakra swirled around him in a sudden burst of malice. "I'm gonna kill you!"

_What is this? His wounds are healing! And this deadly intent… What on earth is he?! _Haku remained frozen in his icy shield, in awe of the undeniable force that had revealed itself before him, poised to tear the string of his life to shreds in an instant.

This transformed Naruto bounded forward. Haku stood no chance. In less than a minute, his mirrors had all been shattered and he was defeated. All that was left was for Naruto to finish him off.

--

_The mist is clearing… there!_ Sasuke's vision refocused on two figures in the distance. It was Naruto and Haku in the last moments of their fight. _Naruto? Then… where's Kara?_ He settled for watching Naruto charge the mist assassin. It was then that he heard a strange chirping sound in the opposite direction. The sound also caught Haku's attention. In a flash, the young boy shot across the bridge and threw himself between Kakashi and Zabuza. _Whoa… Hey! If Haku and Zabuza are both right there, then…_ Sasuke ran toward Naruto, grabbed the boy's arm and shouted to him as he ran past to where he expected to find Kara. "Go watch Tazuna!"

"… Sasuke…" Naruto whispered in a weak attempt to stop his comrade. He sighed, too tired and overwhelmed at the same time to bother with tears at the moment.

"Kara?" Sasuke slowed as he approached her motionless body. _No way… why is she? …no, there's just no way._ He knelt down next to her in shock at what he was looking at. "No. You can't be." His voice remained calm, collected… analytic even. "There's just no way. How could this happen?"

He could hear Naruto's shouting in the near distance. The blonde had taken up a new cause, probably to block thoughts similar to what Sasuke was facing at the moment. He shook his head back and forth once. "How could he let this happen to you?" Sasuke turned and looked at his sensei, holding back Naruto from making the day worse. "He said that you meant a lot to him. Obviously not enough. He could have saved you, could have chosen to protect you instead of me and Tazuna, but instead he let you… die. What kind of bastard would choose to save anyone above their own family?"

The Uchiha could feel his throat closing up on him. Painful memories began to resurface sending a slight vertigo to his head. Without thinking, his hand went out to stop himself from falling over. All his weight pressed down on Kara's arm.

"That hurts." A soft, breathy voice chimed like glorious bells on Easter morning in Sasuke's ears.

"Kara?" What was initially shock boiled over and quickly became rage. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Look at yourself! Do you have any idea how incredibly reckless you are? You should be dead!"

The entire time he was lecturing her, his hand was squeezing her arm tighter and tighter. "It still hurts… a lot." Her pale blue eyes blinked slowly as she continued to stare at his offending action.

"Huh? Oh…" He let her go; a small wave of relief supported the slight smile on her face.

"Where's Naruto?" Kara tried to move to look for the object of her sacrifice. "Is he okay?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he watched the scene of villagers scare off a mob of criminals with the aid of several blonde and silver-haired clones. "Yea. He's fine." He looked down at the brunette lying before him. "God, you're such an idiot."

Kara's head lolled to face him as best she could. The poor thing looked about ready to pass out again, her eyes barely open let alone focused. "What are you talking about? I just did what you would have done in the same situation." The girl chuckled lightly. "I threw myself in harm's way." She winked at him. "So really, who's the idiot here?"

"You are. Come on." He reached underneath her arms and steadied her onto her feet.

"Ah… careful. I'm broken right now." Kara gripped his shoulder when he accidentally pressed on one of several needles jutting out of her back.

Sasuke let his head fall a bit, hiding his eyes from Kara's view. "I'm sorry, Kara." The rare words caught the girl's full attention. "You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I had been there. I should have been there." _Or at least __someone__ should have been there._

The young girl reached up and tugged on a piece of the boy's raven hair. "Since when are you responsible for me? Or are you just upset that you weren't the one to beat me to a pulp?" Her bloodstained smile begged for a positive response.

Sasuke glared back at her for a second, perturbed that she was trying to make a joke out this nearly horrific situation before realizing just how accurate her first question was. "Definitely the later." He acted as her crutch as they walked down the bridge to reach the others. "But I'm sure I'll get my chance eventually."

--A week later--

Kara strolled behind the group, kicking a stone every few paces, as they made their way back home. They were no more than ten minutes away from the village gate and she was not in the mood to see her sensei again. _I sure hope Gai-sensei doesn't hold a grudge about the whole bioterrorism stint of mine._

"Come on, Kara-chan. You need to keep up." Kakashi called to her without looking back from his book. "I'm sure your sensei is going to be real excited to see you." He chuckled, imagining the scene.

"Oh I'm sure he's gonna love to see you too." She crossed her arms and pouted.

He rolled his eye and continued his reading. "Your face is going to get stuck that way if you don't stop that."

_How does he know what face I'm making?!_ Kara kicked her stone harder, causing it to strike him in the calf. "You're mean, sempai."

Sasuke listened to the conversation as he walked alongside his sensei. "You just launched a rock at him and he's the mean one?"

"Thank you Sasuke-kun." Kakashi patted him on the shoulder.

_Well, geez. Why don't you just adopt the boy, Kakashi-san?_ "Oh. I see how it is." Kara skipped ahead to the front of the party where Naruto proudly lead the victory march back to Konoha. "Hi, Naruto-kun." She waved and smiled brightly.

"Hi Kara." He beamed. "What's up?"

She spun around to walk backwards and glared at Sasuke. "Nothing much. It's just that… well… Sasuke's being mean to me again." Kara reached up and scratched at her cheek innocently.

"What the hell is wrong with you Sasuke?!" Naruto whirled around and started the fight.

The Uchiha scowled and fought back. "I didn't do anything, baka! She's playing you!"

The shouting match escalated until Kakashi couldn't take it anymore. But instead of stopping them, he just quickened his pace to walk ahead of them with Kara. "You proud of yourself?"

"Heh, maybe." She grinned and gracefully kept up with his long strides, her hands deep in her pockets.

A moment of relative silence, except for the boys bickering in the background, passed before Kakashi spoke again. "Kara-chan."

"Hm?" She glanced over her shoulder briefly to catch a glimpse of Naruto pulling on a chunk of Sasuke's precious hair. _Hehehe… oh gosh, they're too easy._

"I wanted to say that I was--"

"Sorry? Yea, no." Kara jumped to the correct conclusion. She returned her gaze to the road before her. "It was weird hearing it from Sasuke and it'll be even more awkward to hear it from you. So, don't… please."

Kakashi put his book away. "Sasuke said he was sorry? What for?"

The girl's attention remained on the path ahead. "Same reason you almost apologized just now. You guys have this crazy notion that you're responsible for me, but you're not. I got hurt as badly as I did, because I was reckless. I leapt before I thought and I paid the price for it. End of story."

The older man disagreed with her definite statement. "Well, as curious as it is that he feels responsible for you, I actually am responsible for you. I am the leader of this team, you know." _Wow, he really said he was sorry. Honestly, there was very little he could have done. He probably would have ended up just as badly injured as Kara if he had jumped into that fight._

"I already thought of an excuse for you. Wanna hear it?" Kara scratched at some of the bandages wrapped around her arm.

Kakashi nodded his head. He could use the excuse in his mission report in order to explain her injuries. No point in him getting in more trouble over something he was already beating himself up over.

"I didn't ask for permission from you. I just started fighting with Haku. So, technically I was insubordinate to some extent. Gai-sensei will totally buy it. He thinks I'm some kind of a rebel." She started kicking another stone ahead of her. "Don't really know why though. I'm usually pretty good about doing what I'm told. Usually." Her errant laugh cleared the air a bit.

"Works for me." He absently patted her on the head. "I'm just glad everything ended well." _I don't know what I would have done if you had actually died._

Waiting at the village gates was an unexpected but familiar head of pink hair. "Sasuke-kun! Oh, I'm so glad you're back!" The awkward green-eyed girl rushed forward, glomping him to the ground.

Kara watched, genuinely intrigued that the girl was not being cursed out like she often was for far lesser offenses. _Guess he must really like her._ She swiveled around to face Kakashi. "I guess I better go find Gai-sensei before he just shows up." Her voice was distant and devoid of any actual want to find the man.

"Good idea. See ya' later, Kara." Kakashi pushed her ahead into the village, not wanting to see Gai himself.

"Geez, don't be in such a rush to get rid of me now. I'm the best temp you've had." She laughed and took off to find her teacher.

--

"Where oh where can my crazy sensei be?" Kara's voice softly chimed as she turned the corner on her way to his favorite training ground where she spotted three of the most important men in her life. "Hehe, I spy with my little eye something… green." She ran out to announce her return. "Hi Gai-sensei! Hi Lee! Hi Neji!" Gai instantly tossed a sixty pound weight for her to catch. Instead she just dodged. "Oi! What's the big idea, sensei? I just got back from a big mission!"

"One must always be prepared, my little caterpillar!" Gai triumphantly landed at her side, leaving his two other students to their training. "Anywhos, how was the mission? Have fun?" He tapped his foot, seeming a bit impatient.

"Oh yea!" Kara shared his enthusiasm. "We took on one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and won! I only got to fight the guy's apprentice but it was still pretty awesome watching Kakashi fight Zabuza. Oh and you know that lightning thing he can do?" Gai had started glaring at her from the second she mentioned Kakashi's name. "Uh, well… it was… cool." _Something tells me I ought not to tell him about how I can almost do it myself._

Gai caught her by the arm and dragged her toward her fellow teammates. "That's all well and good, Kara-chan. But now you need to get back to your training. You've missed out on nearly two weeks worth and I know there's no way my rival would have taught you anything of use for the upcoming exams."

_Exams? …!_ Kara latched onto his arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Seriously? You're seriously going to enter us into the Chunnin Exams this year, sensei?"

The jolly green giant looked down at her with one of his massive eyebrows higher than the other. "Well, of course I am. I have the utmost faith in you guys. Now back to your training, my little arthropod." He pointed her in the direction of an empty sled attached to approximately two hundred pounds in dead weight that was just calling her name.

_Ugh, resistance running. 'sigh' It could be worse._ Kara sprinted over to the sled just as Neji was finishing his umpteenth lap. "Hey, Neji-kun. How ya' been?" She absently greeted him with pleasantries as she hooked herself into the contraption. There was only silence. "Neji?" Kara looked over at him to catch a glare at point blank range. "W-what's that look for?"

"You know what this look is for. Who do you think had deal with those two," he nodded toward Lee and Gai as they did headstand pushups, "for the past two weeks by themselves?"

Kara scratched the back of her neck. "Hehe… oh boy, Neji-kun. I was just trying to--"

"I don't give a damn." He hissed. "But you better believe that I'm not going to forget about that anytime soon."

_Oooo… something tells me it just got worse._ Kara nodded her head solemnly and watched as the Hyuuga continued in his training. _Man… This better get resolved before the exams. We won't stand a chance if we can't work together._

--Few weeks later--

"Kara…"

"… yea…" She panted in reply.

"Do you remember when I said I would not forget about how you sickened our bushy-browed brethren?" Neji's voice remained calm and collected.

"Ummm…" Kara struggled back to her feet. _This is it, isn't it? This is his payback._

Their sensei had them sparring more and more often as the day of the exam drew ever closer. No matter what she did, no matter how much more skilled she would become, Neji always seemed to be twelve steps ahead of her. She just wasn't a match for his Juken style. She'd tried everything in her arsenal; taijutsu, tricks, traps, bombs, weaponry and even the two shadow clones she could manage if she really concentrated. Nothing worked against his all-seeing eyes and untouchable Gentle Fist; at least nothing that she had mastered as of yet.

"Come at me one more time and we'll call it even." His pompous smirk was almost too much for the young fourteen year old to take.

_Best to just get it over with, eh? What's getting my rear-end kicked compared to the chance to be Chunnin?_ Kara steadied herself and stared back from behind a scrutinizing gaze. "Promise?"

"Of course, Kara-chan. We need to be able to work as a team in order to become Chunnin. I can put this behind us if you can swallow your pride just this once."

_Hn, easier said than done. This jerk has never known the taste of pride. Too bitter in my opinion. But if it will help us advance in the exams… _"Alright." Kara sighed deeply before charging forward one last time.

She dodged the first two strikes but was too worn out to evade the next sixty-two.

"Ooof." Kara collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. _Oh… oh lord. This hurts… Neji you… you jerk you!_

The Hyuuga knelt down next to her and whispered in her ear. "And now we're equal. I'll see you tomorrow at the academy at four in the afternoon. Don't be late." He poked her nose with a small laugh and left to go home.

"Grr… See you at four." Kara mocked him after he was out of earshot. "Arrogant, self-righteous, egotistical, conceited…… ugh!" She rolled over and stared up at the dusk sky. The reds and purples blended together beautifully. "Darn you, sky. I can't stay mad if you're gonna be so lovely."

"Are you talking to insubstantial entities again, my little bugaboo?" Gai's round and rugged face invaded Kara's panoramic view.

There was no point in denying it. "Yes, sensei." She instinctively raised her arms up like a child asking to be picked up. He readily complied allowing her to climb all the way up onto his back where she perched herself comfortably. "Where's Lee-kun?"

The rather maternal male began carrying his young student away from the training field. "Sent him home. Where's Neji?"

Kara rested her chin on the man's broad shoulder. "I sent him home too. Kid needs his rest before the exams tomorrow." Her eyes slowly drooped closed.

Gai squeezed her arm. "I'm glad you're so considerate of your teammates."

"Yup, that's me. Always considerate." She yawned deeply. "Thanks for letting us enter the exams, sensei. I promise I won't drag the boys down."

"Of course you won't." He chirped with encouragement. "I'm sure you'll shock everyone there and make it all the way to the finals. I believe in you." He could feel Kara's smile as she buried her blushing face in his shoulder. "I know you've got it in you to be one of the up incoming stars of the village, Kara." _You've got good genes and had magnificent training. I have no doubt you'll surpass most of the other genin there._

Sleeping beauty's head popped back up and quickly pecked the man on the cheek. "Thanks, sensei. You're the best." She hugged him tighter and let her head fall back down against his back.

The show of affection touched him right down to the soul. Gai had to fight back tears it was almost too much. _She's like my own precious daughter! And… HA! I bet Kakashi has yet to receive such generous and truthful love and admiration as I have!_

* * *

**Grrr…… ya'll have no idea how hard it is to think of witty comebacks without cursing. I myself curse way too much. They're bad kids. They seriously diminish your vocabulary. I can't wait till Kara grows up a bit. (a.k.a. has her heart torn out, burned, eaten and regurgitated in front of her) Then it will be so easy for her to say, "The hell it is!" or "Screw you, jackass!" or "Son of a bitch!" …'sigh' I'm anticipating such vulgar things with exclamation points. Not a good sign. lol.**

**You've read! Now review! (Remember: I care.)**


	12. The Fine Line

**I just feel I have to mention this. In the series, TenTen uses mirrors attached to wires to reflect answers to Lee for the first part of the exam. WTH? First off, wouldn't the proctors have noticed when she hooked up the device? It's like thrown up into the ceiling with kunai. That must have taken some serious throwing power. Secondly, wouldn't they have noticed the big mirror attached to the ceiling as it moved around? I mean, they're supposed to be hyper observant in all. And it must have reflected some light. Thirdly, you see her with her hand in front of her face, pulling on the wire all obvious. I just think it's pathetic and there's no way in hell I would have had Kara do the same. Instead, I had her take the easy way out. Do ya'll know the quickest way out of a burning building? Straight through the flames. **

* * *

Chapter 12: The Fine Line Between Cheating and Lying to Yourself

Kara casually strolled down the street on her way to the Academy, her hands stuffed down into her pockets like the cool cat she was. She had had a good night of sleep the night before and was actually running ahead of schedule, a full forty five minutes to be exact. _Ah, such a lovely afternoon. Shame I have to spend it inside for this exam._

"Pssst! Kara-chan!" A voice whispered to her from behind a bush.

"Eh?" The girl backtracked a couple steps before crouching down to see who it was. "Guruko-kun? What are you doing down there in the shrubbery?"

The dog poked its head out, tilted sideways. "Shrubbery? Seriously?" _She really needs to get away from her sensei more._ "I ran away from home so that I could wish you luck."

"Aw… you're so sweet." Kara picked him up and squeezed him tightly like her own personal teddy bear. "I can use all the extra luck I can get."

"Extra? Who else is wishing you luck?" The dog pushed away from her with his paws in order to get a better angle of her face. "You better tell me."

"Well…" She hummed and hawed for a moment. "I'm assuming its luck." Balancing Guruko in one arm, she reached into her pack and pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope. "See? This letter is from my mom… or dad… heck, it could even be from an uncle for all I know. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I figure whoever wrote it would want me to be safe. And not getting myself killed would be victory enough for me during this exam."

Guruko blinked his large puppy eyes at her. "You're always going to be safe so long as we're around." He was referring to himself and the other dogs. "We would never let anything bad happen to you."

Kara squeezed him again. "Aw! You're too much." She kissed him and set him down on the ground. "Now hurry up and run back home like a good boy. I wouldn't want Pakkun to scold you for going A.W.O.L." The little dog licked her hand before bounding down the street back home. _Gosh, he's almost too cute. I wish he was my dog. Heh… maybe if I had a ninken of my own I'd actually stand a chance of making it to the finals._

She continued onward toward the Academy. Out front there were several people of varying ages and village affiliations getting themselves pumped up and ready to go inside. Kara didn't see either of her teammates out there so with a shrug of her shoulders, she headed into her old school and up the nearest stairwell. Though her destination was the third floor, she noticed that there were a large group of applicant's on the second, her two boys amongst them. _Huh? Did they change the room for the exam?_

"There you are." Neji turned toward her as she approached. "We only have another thirty minutes till the exam."

"Yea. So what are you guys doing here?" She glanced over at Lee who seemed to be facing down two rather snotty-nosed kids blocking his way.

Neji stared at her blankly. "Please tell me you didn't hit your head on the way over here. We're here for the exam, Kara."

"But we're only on the seco-- Uff!" Lee was knocked back into her and the two fell to the floor. "Owww… geez. That hurt. You alright?" The young girl checked her teammate's condition before she scrambled back to her feet. "Why did you do that?" Her shocked expression directed at the boy who pushed Lee down in the first place.

"Oh we're just trying to spare you weak little ones from getting yourselves killed during this exam." A boy with spiky black hair and bandages on his face stood haughtily before her.

_Weak? Lee could hit this brat so hard his grandchildren would feel it. He must have fallen on purpose._ Kara took a step forward, intentionally putting herself within range of the self appointed bouncers. "Who are you to judge? You look younger, and a heck of a lot weaker, than me, kid."

The boy's hand shot out to strike her across the face. Kara had every intention of just taking the hit like Lee had, but luckily for her flawless features, the scarring injury would not be taking place at the moment. Her eyes, already scrunched up in a flinch, popped open to see Sasuke standing beside her, his hand clamped around the boy's wrist. Kara sighed more out of annoyance than relief. Her planning and preparation never seemed to do any good when he was around. "Nice timing." She mumbled as she crossed her arms with a slight huff.

"It'd be a waste if you got hurt and couldn't compete." The Uchiha smirked, proud of himself for his show of chivalry in front of the gathering of applicants. He let the scowling boy go.

Kara rolled her eyes and let her arms drop back down to her sides. "Believe me. I have every intention of competing." She looked back at Lee and Neji. "Speaking of which, how's about we head up to the examination room now?" They stared at her puzzled, thinking that they had already arrived.

"Sounds fine to me." Sasuke turned to his own teammates. "No point in wasting time here on the second floor."

"Heh. Just cause you can see though a measly illusion doesn't mean you're good enough to take the exam." The snot-nosed boy had not lost focus and came at Sasuke with a kick that would have undoubtedly taken Kara out with him, had Lee not intervened.

In the blink of an eye, Lee appeared between the two boys, stopping any further conflict. "Are you alright, Kara-chan?" His concern was solely for Kara's well-being. She nodded furiously and gestured for him to let the two combatants go.

_Damn… this guy! Completely different from the loser that got knocked flat on his ass a second ago._ Sasuke turned away without so much as a second glance at either Lee or Kara. "Let's go." He vaguely ordered his teammates.

"Yea, let's get going." Sakura chimed in perfect agreement with the object of her obsession.

And that was all it took to capture Lee's heart. Kara noticed the change first. "Lee? … Lee. No, stop." She reached out too late to stop him from embarrassing himself and the rest of his team. "Darn it…" She hissed.

"What?" Neji stood beside her and watched Lee approach the pink-haired girl. "Oh."

"Excuse me…" Lee got the young girl's attention. "My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura, right?"

Sakura stared back a bit deterred by the boy's appearance. "Um… yea…"

"My name is Rock Lee. Will you go out with me? I'll protect you with my life."

The boy's gleaming smile and polished 'good looks' were rewarded with nothing but a dull, "You're so lame", from the young cherry blossom.

Kara shielded her eyes from the carnage and ignored what was going on as best she could. But Neji watched the reactions of the pink-haired girl's teammates. One in particular caught his eye. "Hey you." He called out to Sasuke. "What was your name again?"

_Huh? Me? _The Uchiha coolly turned and faced him. "I never said. What's yours?"

Ignoring the question that was posed to him, Neji went on. "You're one of the rookies aren't you?" He nudged Kara in the side. She uncovered her eyes and blinked, surprised a bit by the turn the situation had taken. "You two know each other right?"

Kara remained silent, looking back and forth between the two boys. _Uh-oh… Neji's picked out his competition. Great. Now he's gonna want me to help him win… or rather, expect me to take his side._

"Yea, I know her." Sasuke broke the silence. "Doesn't mean I owe you anything though." He turned and stalked off with Naruto and Sakura in tow._ Damn I look like a badass._

"Geez, Neji. Why do you have to be so mean?" Kara shoved him lightly on the shoulder, not enough to budge him.

He looked at her. "I can't believe you just let him go."

_What? Sasuke? _"Why would I stop him?" She lost track of the conversation.

"Oh I don't know." The Hyuuga's pale lavender eyes rolled in a slow 360 degrees. "Maybe because he's our teammate." He pointed past her to the spot where Lee had previously occupied. "You let him chase after that pink-haired girl, whatever her name was."

_Lee? _"Huh?!" Kara spun around and just managed to catch a glimpse of Lee's orange legwarmers as they disappeared behind a corner. "Ugh! Why didn't you stop him?"

"Not my job. Now go fetch him before we get in trouble with sensei. I'll wait for you guys in the examination room." He glided down the hallway in the opposite direction, following the dispersing crowd.

Kara grumbled and mocked the natural born genius of a comrade she was stuck with as she rushed after the love sick clone of her sensei. _Why do I always take care of these two? … Better question: Why in the world is it __my__ job to 'fetch' Lee?_

--

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura batted her eyelashes at the boy in an attempt to gain his attention as they turned the corner away from Kara and her teammates. "Why did you protect that girl? What was her name again? … Kara, right?"

He sighed as the question which instantly brought him down from his high of showing up that pale-eyed weirdo. _Why do I care so much about whether or not Kara gets hurt? … Better question: What answer will make Sakura shut up about it? _"I don't know. It was the right thing to do." He mumbled, trying not to pay her too much attention, lest she continue speaking.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun! You're so caring and humble!" She swooned.

"Caring my ass…" Naruto cut in. "He probably did it to piss Kara off. Ya' know, she doesn't like it when people play her up as the damsel in distress. She's probably annoyed with you right now."

"Like I care." Sasuke answered coolly while he continued walking across the second floor. "Let's just get to the exam, alright?"

"Ha! See!" Naruto pointed his finger in Sasuke's face. "I told you Sakura-chan! He's not as great as you think he is!"

Sakura readily smacked her blonde annoyance upside the head. "Shut up, Naruto. Sasuke's right. We need to hurry up. We only have twenty more minutes to turn in our applications."

"Hey you with the face!" A voice called down from the walkway above. All three genin looked up to see the awkward looking fellow from whom it originated. The disgust was obvious on all three of their faces.

Sasuke unsurprisingly answered, it being in his self-absorbed nature to assume the creepy, green boy was talking to him. "What do you want?"

With one flawless leap, the boy jumped down to face him. "I am challenging you to a fight, Sasuke Uchiha."

_Oh, so he knows my name. Tch. Kara probably told him. If she's as mad as Naruto says she is, then she probably put this freak up to challenging me. _"Is that so? Well… if you insist."

"No! Lee, stop it right now!" Kara shouted from the walkway above the four kids. "If you start fighting you could get us disqualified!"

Lee raised his open palm to his comrade's outcry. "I cannot back down for I fight to prove my love." He blew a kiss at Sakura. She only narrowly escaped its trajectory.

Kara pinched the bridge of her nose. "If you don't stop this right now, I swear I'll tell sensei on you!" _Oh gosh, this is so irritating._

"Nothing will prevent me from my mission. Do not interfere, Kara-chan." Lee remained focused on his target before him.

"Yea, just stay out of this Kara." Sasuke called up to her. "But if you'd like, you can stay and watch me kick the crap out of your friend here." He snickered, overly confident in his abilities and somewhat amused by Kara's connection to the bushy-browed freak. _Guess she didn't send him. Doesn't change anything though._

_Wow… to think, I was going to spare him the humiliation of defeat._ "Fine." She snapped callously. "Lee. You have five minutes to beat the Uchiha to a fine powder, before I tell sensei about you breaking the rules."

"Your understanding in this matter is much appreciated, Kara-chan." Lee glanced up and smiled at her, grateful to be granted the chance to test his ability and show off for a pretty girl.

"Yeah, yeah…" Kara stalked off to find Gai. "But you're gonna have to deal with the consequences when Gai-sensei finds out." She mumbled under her breath.

--

"So, Kakashi. You really expect your students to show up for this exam?" Gai leaned back against the third floor window.

"Yea. Why do you ask?" The copy ninja idly flipped the page of his favorite book.

The two men were standing in front of the examination room door. Kakashi was waiting for his students and Gai might have just been there to bother him. "I just think it's a bit presumptuous of you to think they're ready. I gave my kids a whole year to prepare."

"Speaking of which…" Kakashi snapped his book shut and glared at the pompous green giant. "Why is it that Kara has yet to be taught anything of any actual use?"

The question threw him for a loop. "What are you talking about? She's an excellent fighter!"

"Taijutsu doesn't count, Gai. Didn't you ever think to test her aptitude for other skills?"

"What do you mean, 'Taijutsu doesn't count'? It's the basis of any decent training regime. I could base my entire career on it!"

Kakashi sighed and decided to try to come at this from another angle. "What I'm trying to say is; why haven't you taught her any ninjutsu? I really don't know why you hate using it so much and I think it's very irresponsible of you to deprive her of the opportunity to learn. You know, she might actually be good at it."

Gai pondered his response carefully, but it still came up lengthy and unfulfilling. "I don't think she would be. Don't get me wrong. She's good enough to make it through this exam and it would be great if she were apt to learning things, but Kara's not all that dedicated. What skill she has, she was born with. I've done everything I could think of to make her care but, I don't think I've ever seen that girl really try. Heh…" he chuckled to himself. "I guess laziness runs in the family, eh?"

_I'm not lazy. And neither is Kara. She's just… overly pensive at times._ Kakashi could hear a pair of footsteps approaching from around the corner. "Whatever you say, Gai. Whatever you say."

--

Kara took her time walking up to the third floor. It was quiet because most, if not all, of the other applicants had already gone to the examination room. Just as she turned the last corner on her way there, she froze. At the far end of the hall, right in front of the door, were Gai and Kakashi. Both seemed to be waiting fairly patiently for their students it seemed, but Kara knew better. Beneath their calm exteriors, they were still fighting with each other… or at least Gai was. And she knew that one way or another, she would end up involved. _Arg! Why can't today be a nice peaceful, normal day?_

"Kara-chan!" Gai cheerfully greeted her as she approached the two men. "Ready to take the exam?"

"Mmm-hmm." She kept her mouth tightly shut. She had promised Lee at least another ten seconds. The shared gaze of the two was too much for her. Kara instantly turned her attention to the slightly shiny nature of her shoes.

Gai started talking first. "Neji's already inside and you're here, but where's Lee-kun?"

_Three Mississippi, Two Mississippi, One Mississippi… _Kara looked back up with a grin. "He's downstairs beating the living daylights out of Sasuke. I would have stayed and watched, but since we're not supposed to fight before the exam, there was a conflict of interest."

"He's what now?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Kara's words.

Gai broke in triumphantly. "She said that my protégé is kicking your protégé's ass."

"Basically." Kara agreed with her sensei's translation, though not his choice of words.

"That's unlikely." Kakashi's confidence was met with hard stares from the other two.

"You don't know Lee, sempai." The young girl shook her head back and forth. "Just wait till you see Sasuke. He'll have bruises everywhere… his ego in particular will appear badly wounded." She snickered at the thought of it.

"True, true, bugaboo." Gai spontaneously picked her up in a hug and then dropped her to go get Lee. "But now I must go and get our golden boy. Good luck, Kara-chan. Remember your teamwork." He disappeared around the corner.

Kara visibly twitched where she stood and blinked a few times before regaining focus. "You alright?" Kakashi poked her head.

She glanced up at him, rubbing her forehead. "Would you be?"

"Right, dumb question." He knelt down to her level. "So are you really ready to take the exam?"

"Yea, I guess." Kara shrugged her shoulders. "I can at least make sure my teammates make it to the finals."

Kakashi's visible eye hardened. "What kind of an attitude is that? Why wouldn't you be able to make it there yourself?"

The teenage girl again shrugged her shoulders. "A bunch of those guys in there," she nodded to the door behind him "have special jutsu and techniques and years more experience than me. And well, there's nothing all that special about me. I figure I'm strong enough to help my friends and that'll be enough."

_I wish she wouldn't be so… selfless, I guess. Unambitious seems more accurate though. Maybe Gai was right._ "What about that jutsu I showed you? Haven't you been practicing it?"

Kara sighed and assumed it would be better to show him rather than try to explain in detail the problem with his logic. She quickly made the hand signs and then reached up and brushed her hair with her fingers. Strands of her hair stood up at random intervals. "Just static electricity." She held her hands, palm up, in front of her. Red and white lines crackled under her skin. "I guess I just don't have whatever passion it takes to make it more." Kara folded her hands together and stopped the jutsu. "It's fine though. I'm good enough for what I want to accomplish."

_She doesn't know just how close she really is._ Kakashi stood back up and guided her toward the door to the exam. "Don't give up on it. I know you're capable of perfecting it." He cracked the door open and glanced down at her one last time. "Good luck, Kara-chan."

Kara reached out and squeezed the man's hand. "Thanks, sempai." She smiled softly and walked inside. _Hehe, that makes four now._

The room was packed full of applicants, but it only took her two seconds to spot Neji sitting a few rows in front of where she stood. Kara took a deep breath and sighed out. She had to push through a small pack of rookies on her way to sit down. "Excuse you." A pig-faced blonde girl snapped at her when she accidentally bumped into her.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." Kara continued past.

"You should be." The little girl crowed.

That was a bit too much of an insult to take. Kara paused and spun around on her heel to face the brat. "Is there a problem? I was just walking." She propped her left hand on her hip. _Well, someone's overreacting._

The blonde sneered. "Yea, maybe there is." She took a step forward, settling into a fighting stance.

"Ino, cut it out." A boy with spiked black hair and narrow eyes pulled on the girl's arm. "You don't know her. What if she's stronger than you?" He whispered.

She turned and hissed in his ear. "Please… I could take her. It'll make us look tough if I kick someone's ass in front of everyone."

Kara rolled her eyes. "I have excellent hearing. And I'd listen to your friend there. My name is Harada Kara and it's very unlikely that a brat like you could compare to me… Ino, was it?"

"Yamanaka Ino, and I'll have you know I come from a long line of elite ninja who specialize in the art of infiltration. You wouldn't even see me coming." The girl stuck her chin in the air and puffed out her flat chest.

"… right." Kara turned her head away. "Well… I'm gonna go now." She spared a quick glance at the boy who had tried to hold back the pig-faced child as she made her way to Neji. "Good luck. You'll need it with comrades like her." _…freaks._

"Tch. Yeah, that's right! Run away! See? I told you she was weaker than me, Shikamaru." Ino put up a front but was still completely deflated from Kara's complete lack of interest in facing her challenge. _Freak._

--

"Hey." Kara sat down with a flop next to Neji.

He went straight to the point. "Where's Lee?" But she didn't have time to answer before the door opened again, the taijutsu genius marching through confidently with a bloodied up face.

"Sensei got him for me." She slunk down in her seat and propped her feet up on the bench in front of her. "Just like old times, eh Neji-kun?" She yawned, bored already by the classroom setting. Clearly the tense atmosphere of the locale was not affecting her in the least. Lee sat down on the other side of Kara. "Tell me you won." She asked from behind closed eyes.

"A victor was not determined." Lee sat straight in his chair.

Kara opened one eye. "But you hit him real hard, right?" He nodded. "Heh, good." She went back to her faux sleep.

A sudden loud shout brought her out of it. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto and none of you are gonna beat me!"

_Dear lord…_ Kara sat up and stared at the blonde, along with the rest of the room. _Is he serious?_

"Kara-chan." Neji was watching the group of rookies by the door. "What can you tell me about them?"

_I knew it. I knew it! He wants me to give him an advantage._ She shrugged her shoulders. "His name is Naruto. What you see is what you get."

"And the others?" He prodded.

Kara didn't see the harm in telling him what she knew; mostly because she didn't know much. "Um… the girl is 'something' Sakura. I don't think she's anything special. Except that she seems immune to Sasuke's wrath." That last word caught Neji's attention; Kara noticed. "Yeah… the boy can really argue and fight. He can be very unpleasant at times. But they're all fairly normal, I think. Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about." She patted him indolently on the head twice.

There was an unexpected commotion by the door. The group of sound ninja rushed an older boy who had been standing with Naruto and the others. "Do you see that Lee?" Kara leaned her head toward the boy, now throwing up on the floor. "That's why you don't start fights at an exam." He nodded quietly.

Another loud burst of shouting brought the attention of the room around a complete 180 degrees. "Would you all just shut up?!" A low, male voice boomed throughout the room. Out of a cloud of smoke appeared a large group of ninja, the proctors for the first part of the exam. "Sorry to have kept you guys waiting. My name is Morino Ibiki. I am the chief proctor for this section of the exam. Now if you'd all be so kind as to line up and turn in your applications, at which point you'll be assigned a seat. Once everyone is seated, we'll pass out the written portion of the exam."

Kara blinked, not wanting to believe it; not to say she hadn't expected it given their location. _Oh joy…_

--

It had been ten minutes since the exam started. Kara sat in the seventh row; two up from Lee and four down from Neji. The random seating assignment had done a good job of splitting up all the teams. She sat silently, her left arm covering her test, her right hand propped up and spinning her pencil around idly. She had only known the answers to three of the first nine questions. Not a good point ratio.

_Geez, this point subtraction deal sucks. I mean, these questions are nearly unbelievable. You'd have to be a real genius or a bookworm to know 'em. _Kara rubbed her eyes as she considered the fact that the girl sitting next to her had yet to stop scratching answers down on her test. Who'd have thought that Sakura, a complete fangirl, would have been so smart?

The seconds continued to tick by, one after another. _Come on Kara…_, she coached herself. _Think. I only have three points here. How do I get more? _She looked up at the clock. Twenty minutes had passed and only forty minutes remained.

'Thunk' A kunai struck dead center on some kid's test. "Whoa! What the hell?!" He shouted.

"That's five times, kid. You're out." The proctor that threw the weapon grinned slyly. "Get your teammates and leave."

"You can't prove I cheated five times!" The boy refused to comply.

With deadly speed, the proctor shot across the room, slamming the boy into the far wall. "We proctors are the best here. We don't miss anything. Now scram." He growled.

_Hehehe_… Kara laughed nervously in her head. _Oh boy, these guys are hard-core. _Her thoughts dwelled on the cheater's words. _He cheated five times and lost all his points and all the points of his teammates. To think, if he had only cheated four times, he'd still be in the running._

The obvious conclusion hit Kara like a ton of bricks. _We have to cheat. We don't need to know the answers to these ridiculous questions! We need to steal them from someone who does without getting caught!_ Instantly, Kara sat up straighter and refocused herself. _Okay, wait. Slow down. This is still a team event. How are my teammates going to get their answers? _

Kara dared not look anywhere but straight ahead and down at her own test. _Neji's probably already figured this out and is using his Byakugan to get his answers. I don't need to worry about him… but Lee. How is he going to cheat without getting caught? He's quick like me, but his memory is only good enough for maybe five or six answers. He'll get caught easily if he dwells any longer than that on someone's exam. _She stopped twirling her pencil and used it instead to pick at the cuticles of her nails. _Unless… I buy him some time._

The clock ticked another five minutes past. Eleven full teams, thirty-three hopefuls, had been disqualified. Kara crunched the numbers in her head. _Neji will have all nine points. I have three right now. And I'll assume Lee has zero. If I make a distraction long enough, Lee can get at least six points. But any diversion will be marked as an attempt at cheating. …geez, I wish I had listened to Pakkun more._

Sakura's scribbling stopped.

_No sense in getting points taken away if I'm not gonna get some answers out of it. I'll cheat… just this once and I'll get nine answers; nine points. Neji will have nine and Lee will have, at worst, six. Then I'll need to subtract two from each of us because of the penalty for my cheating and that'll leave me with seven, Neji with seven and Lee with four. Gosh, I hate underestimating Lee in all, but this is a mental challenge not a physical one. He's the weakest on our team in that respect._ Kara took a deep breath. Her decision was made. She had to sacrifice if she wanted her team to make it any further in this exam. _Now then… who to steal answers from?_

There was a slight gasp to Kara's left. She glanced out of the corner of her eye as a natural reaction to the noise. _What's up with Pinky?_ A sly grin slowly spread across the green-eyed beauty's face. Her gaze narrowed in on her exam sheet and began scanning the page in what looked like an attempt at memorization.

Kara continued to stare. Something wasn't right. "Is there a problem?" The nearly cruel looking Sakura hissed in her direction.

"Maybe there is." She absently responded, turning her attention back to her own paper. _Holy cow! That's not Sakura! That's that brat that tried to pick a fight with me earlier. Geez, she wasn't kidding about the infiltration thing. _Kara snuck another peek at the possessed girl. _Whelp… no time like the present, eh?_ Without another moment of hesitation, Kara stood up and swiped the piece of paper out of Sakura's hands. "Cheating is against the rules, Ms. Yamanaka." She whispered just loud enough for the girl to hear. "Oooh! What have we here?" Kara chirped at an audible level as she stared at the paper.

Sasuke, along with a majority of the room, stared at Kara's show. _What in the hell is she doing?! _

_Seven! Yes! Seven proctors looked at me! Come on Lee. You better have taken advantage of my little stunt here._ "My, my… what clever answers you have." Kara folded the paper into smaller and smaller squares after looking at it for a mere two seconds. The possessed Sakura sat frozen, staring up at her in horror.

Ibiki picked up the roster with the names of all the applicants and their seating assignments. He quickly found Kara's name and barked out at her. "Ms. Harada. I hope you have a good reason for this outburst."

The chief proctor's voice sent shivers through the classroom. "Yessir." Her voice chimed sweetly through the stagnant air. She remained immune to the tension in the room. "But I can't seem to remember it at the moment." She giggled.

"Then sit down and say goodbye to six of your team's points." The man did his best to make his voice low and intimidating, it terrified most everyone in the room, but Kara had already figured out his game. Her smile never faded.

"Collateral damages." She shrugged her shoulders and sat back down, smacking the folded piece of paper down in front of Sakura. "Get out of her right now or I swear…" Kara growled lowly at the girl.

Sakura snorted indignantly. "…fine. Just shut up, would you?" Ino dispelled the jutsu and let her go. The pink-haired curiosity shook her head back and forth briefly before looking down at her folded sheet of paper. _How did that happen?_ She stole a glance at Kara to her right, but only caught her furiously scribbling down her own answers. _Huh? That's odd._

_Sweet! _Kara flipped over her test paper, her stolen answers hidden from view. _Alright then, at best my team has twenty-one points… at worst, eighteen. Now all that's left is the tenth question._ She crossed her arms over her exam and laid her head down for a nice little nap.

--

Kakashi sighed and let his head fall into his hands where he sat. He along with a few other jonin sensei were sitting around with nothing to do. "Wow… sure is boring without the kids, huh?"

"Aw, I wouldn't pout so much. I'm sure we'll be busy in no time." A burly fellow sitting across from him breathed out with another puff of his cigarette.

A younger woman with long wavy hair asked the question. "Why do you say that, Asuma?"

"Ha!" Gai walked confidently up to the threesome, settling nearest the copy ninja. "I'll tell you why you're little group of rookies are going to be crawling back to you any second now."

Kakashi leaned as far away from the man as possible. _Sometimes, I swear he stalks me._

"Do you know who the chief proctor for the first part of the exam is, my dear sweet little flower?" Gai had gracefully drifted over toward the woman. Kakashi seemed grateful while Asuma quickly lit up another cigarette to calm his nerves.

She stared at him, her red eyes slightly bugged out. "No. Should I?"

"Cut it out, Gai. Leave Kurenai alone." Asuma shooed him away, throwing a protective arm around her. With another drag on his cigarette, he continued the conversation. "The proctor's name is Morino Ibiki."

"You're kidding me." Kakashi was too thrown to notice that Gai had ended up next to him again. "How could they even let him in a room with children?"

"I'm sorry. What am I missing here?" The woman spared a quick apprehensive glance at the arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Gai was only too happy to answer her question. "Ibiki is the ANBU Black Ops Torture and Interrogation Specialist. He's the very best at what he does and there's no way any of your first-year students stand a chance with him."

_Thank you, Gai. Your insight is always appreciated._ Kakashi glared at him from out of the corner of his eye.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Gai-san." A masked ANBU approached the group fanning himself with a file.

"Tenzou. You brought it." Kakashi's mood instantly picked up.

"I sure did, sempai." The cat-masked man handed the file to him. "What's the point in having the Chunnin Exams here if we don't get first dibs on the reports?"

Asuma, Kurenai and Gai all squeezed in around to see for themselves. Without the slightest dramatic pause, Kakashi opened the file and read. "You were saying Gai?" His voice had the tiniest bit of gloating in it.

Asuma's cigarette dropped out of his mouth onto the floor. "Ha! I would have never believed it. My lazy-ass kids actually passed!"

"They're an exceptionally gifted group." Kurenai suppressed her joy into a small smile. _Oh, I'm so glad they all made it. Hinata especially._

The report quite clearly stated that all nine rookies had made it past Ibiki and his dreaded tenth question.

"Yea, well…" Gai yanked the file out of his rival's hands and continued reading over the more finite details of the first exam. "It looks like my Kara made an impression. Says right here that Ibiki thought she was 'brazen and fearless'. Hmm… if that's not a dead-on judgment of her, I don't know what is!"

_Your__ Kara?_ Kakashi's eye twitched as he snatched the papers back and handed them back to Tenzou. "Thanks for bringing them. You can go ahead and take them now. I'm sure the Hokage will want to see them."

"No problem, sempai." The ANBU nodded and left the group to properly deliver the file.

"I should get going too." Kurenai waved goodbye to her male counterparts.

Asuma instantly rushed after her. "How about some company?"

The brunette paused. "It's just boring errands."

The man chuckled deeply as he led her out the door. "Oh, I can make it more fun. I promise."

_Great. Now it's just he and I in here. _Kakashi tried to resist the urge to smack the pompous grin of his rival's face. "Ya know… the report also said that the only reason anyone passed the tenth question was because of my student, Naruto."

Gai's expression did not settle down in the least. "True. But I'm sure he got some inspiration from my ever affectionate Kara's bold initiative." He stared down the silver-haired man, willing him with his eyes to ask about his choice in adjectives.

…_ugh. What is he on about now?_ Kakashi's one lazy eye blinked once; his cool façade never cracking.

Gai's patience ran out. "I have finally won Kara's absolute adoration, before you!"

"Is that so?" He pulled out his book in an attempt at looking bored.

"Yes! In fact, she kissed me on the cheek last night to let me know how much more important I am to her than you." The jubilant green man froze, expecting an impassioned response.

With the utmost grace, Kakashi rose out of his seat and began walking out the door, the book in his hand leading the way. "That's not why. She was just saying thank you for letting her enter the exam. I'll see ya' around Gai." He left the man floored and shaking his fist angrily after him. _Heh, what kind of an uncle would I be if I didn't keep a sharp eye on my niece?_

* * *

**Ya' know… sometimes I think I lay the irony on a bit too thickly. Can't help it. I like ironic humour.**

**Man, there was some serious Asuma-X-Kurenai at the end there. Their relationship is so sweet… and so sad. So yea, I added that last bit with Kashi and Gai out of pure fanservice for those of you out there who wanted to see it. (I think someone mentioned it?) Wasn't going to write it cause I didn't think Kara's little peck meant anything more than she likes him. Then my mind wandered with its significance. 'Course nothing can phase the ever-cool Kakashi. Hehe… he still spies on her like when she was a little kid.**

**This time I'm asking for commentary! (a fancy review!) Tell me what you loved, what needs fixing and what the winning lotto numbers for the Texas Jackpot are. (I could really use the cash)**


	13. Poor Recollection

**Kara is such a thief! She keeps stealing scenes from more deserving characters! …lol, jk. They're not more deserving. **

**Please forgive my attempt at a 'sneeze' I find it rather pathetic, but I couldn't come up with another more entertaining way to express it.**

**"The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities...It is best to win without fighting." - Sun Tzu (This quote inspired a small part of this chapter, saving me a headache and a few hours of typing… a.k.a. a sad, boring and unnecessary fight scene.)**

**(God damn the goddamn Penguins! … No, you are not meant to understand that. But if you do, then save me an octopus for game 7. Bring Stanley home, Wings!)**

* * *

Chapter 13: Poor Recollection

"Lee, wake her up would you?" Neji had been tossing pebbles at Kara's sleeping form for the past five minutes to no avail.

It was the second day of the second exam. Gai's students had chosen to stay hidden in the tree tops until some of the weaker teams had worn themselves out. It would make for an easier picking.

Lee was sitting close to the sleeping beauty, but instead of reaching over and waking her, he chose to snap a twig off the tree he was sitting in and jab her in the side with it. The gesture wasn't malicious, just lazy. Though, he might as well have softly tapped her on the shoulder. Kara certainly wouldn't have noticed the difference. "Hn. Wha…?" The young girl yawned deeply her heavy eyelids being the only part of her that really moved.

Neji raised an eyebrow at her lack of instinct. "What if we were under attack right now?"

"Oh…" Kara slowly sat up straight and stretched out her limbs. "Well, I would assume that you would have either saved me… or let me die." She chuckled. Obviously her rest had done her a world of good.

"Listen up." The Hyuuga took control. Lee welcomed the leadership and Kara was just happy to not have the responsibility looming over her head. "We went ahead and took this first day to get acclimatized to our new surroundings. Dawn will be here in about an hour. Now is the perfect time for us to split up and scout out a nice weak target." He threw a kunai into the dirt below them. "We'll meet back here in two hours time. No exceptions. And remember, we're looking for an Earth scroll. I'll keep the Heaven scroll with me. Understand?"

Lee presented a genuine salute and Kara nodded her head, slightly unappreciative at being lectured by someone she considered a peer. "Got it…", she mumbled, "Dawn in one, here in two. Eyes open for Earth thingy. Um, quick question. What if I think I can take 'em? Any team I come across, I mean."

"Do not engage." Neji didn't feel he needed to elaborate any further than that.

"Roger." Kara shot him a mock salute and headed on her way. _Sheesh, he couldn't have given me the hour of sleep, could he? He just had to wake me up before dawn, didn't he? I should have ignored the twig in my side like I did the pebbles._

Kara had been searching around for an hour before she came across anyone. She slowed her approach and gently landed on a well hidden perch, high above her target. _Let's see. What have we here?_ She peeked through the leaves, careful to avoid the poisonous thorns. It seemed like everything in this forest could kill you. Down at ground level, she caught sight of two unconscious males and a rather worn looking girl… with pink hair. _Sakura? Then those boys… Naruto, Sasuke! What happened? _Kara considered her options. She could swing down and help the broken team, while also fulfilling her curiosity in discovering what happened. Or she could move on, like her inner voice, which sounded an awful lot like Neji, told her she should. The decision wasn't all that difficult.

"Sakura?" Kara landed about fifteen feet away from her. The weary girl jumped, startled by the sound of another human voice, and threw a kunai at its source. Kara deftly caught the knife and paused, holding her hands up defensively. "Calm down. It's me, Kara. I'm not here to fight you."

"… Kara? Oh… I, um…" Sakura held her head, woozy from the sudden blood rush of reacting to the false alarm.

"It's okay." The raven haired girl walked over and knelt down with her. "But are you?" Both girls looked to the two boys lying side by side under the exposed roots of an old tree. "Are they?"

"I-I don't know." Sakura seemed to have a hard time keeping it all together. "It all happened so suddenly. The grass-nin and then the snakes and the fear--" She fell back against one of the towering roots, holding her sides. "That man… he called himself Orochimaru."

Kara was a bit overwhelmed. All she had done was go out in search of a weak target to steal a scroll from… another dishonest practice which was clashing violently with her own morals… and she had found just that. A weak team; two disabled and unconscious and one miles below her in the pecking order. Unfortunately, this was one group she could never attack, with or without the obvious circumstances. Naruto was out cold, Sakura was trembling with anxiety and the more Kara looked at him, the more it appeared that Sasuke was struggling to stay alive. With her eyes still transfixed on Sasuke's unmoving body, she asked Sakura, "Tell me what happened."

Sakura managed to recall the harrowing events of the previous night with enough detail for Kara to understand what was going on. "I've been up ever since, watching them." She crawled over to the boys and replaced the washcloths on their foreheads with fresh, cool ones.

"You're a lot stronger than you look, Sakura." Kara reached out and held the girl's shoulder. She needed the comfort and from the story that she just finished telling, Kara believed she deserved it. "You've done well. Now, rest. I'll keep an eye out for you."

The fair, green eyed girl was shocked but couldn't refuse such a generous offer. "Kara… I--"

Kara waved her hand in front of her face. "It's the least I can do." _I did cheat off her test during the first exam after all._ "You rest, I'll keep watch. Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine." However, what proof she had to back up such a bold claim was absent.

Looking as though she were on the verge of tears, Sakura nodded and curled up at the small entrance to the root cave. Her loyalty to the boys kept her in a position between them and the rest of the world. Within seconds, she drifted off.

Kara stood back up and remained standing, slowly taking in her surroundings. She noted the handful of traps and false decoys her pink-haired companion had set up. _Not too shabby. Not good enough to fool me, but better than most people would expect from her._ Satisfied that their position was as well defended as a location that exposed could get, Kara leaned back against the above-ground root system using only her heels to balance as she mulled over the situation.

_A terrifying snake man named Orochimaru attacked them. He jabbed Naruto in the stomach with his hand and then he bit Sasuke on the neck before disappearing into the forest. _Kara tapped her chin thoughtfully. _He bit him on the neck, eh?_ She picked up a long, thin stick off the forest floor and used it to reach inside the impromptu shelter and pull down the corner of Sasuke's shirt. As plain as day, she saw a strange black marking where she would have sworn there was none before. To her it looked like three commas sitting in a circle, their tails hanging out. _What is that? It doesn't look like any bite mark I've ever seen._ She tossed the stick out in front of her, inadvertently scaring off a small woodland critter.

The subtle sound of three individuals conversing about twenty meters in front of her brought Kara to attention. Though, instead of obviously staring at the spot where they were hiding, she turned her head toward Sakura, still asleep against the tree. "Hey." Kara gingerly knelt down next to the sleeping girl and woke her up. "I need you to wake up now."

Startled, despite the gentle wake-up call, Sakura sat up on her knees. "What? What is it?"

"We've got company. Don't worry. I'll handle it." Kara tried her best to ease the girl's anxieties. "I just need you to keep an eye on the boys, that's all." She had to turn away from Sakura after that. The look of fear in the girl's eyes was eating away at her calm nature. Kara stood and faced the direction of their guests. "Why don't you guys just come on out already?" She shouted.

"My, my, my…" The hunchbacked leader of the Sound ninja team emerged from the shadows, followed closely by his two comrades. "Here I thought we could relieve that little girl from her vigil, only to find that someone's taken the opportunity from us."

A moment of silence followed his opening statement. Kara only stared back, armed and running scenarios through her head. _A fight seems inevitable now and three to one are such horrible odds. Sorry Neji-kun._ "What do you want?"

All three of them appeared to sneer in unison. "We want to fight Sasuke. Be a dear and wake him for us." The leader's head turned to the side like a disturbed clown.

_What are the odds that these three Sound ninja show up wanting to fight Sasuke at the absolute worst possible time? _Kara forced a half-smile and shook her head. "Sorry. No can do. But seeing as how you appear to have no problem answering my questions and timing being curiously on your side at the moment… What do you know about this snake, Orochimaru?"

The Sound ninja froze, temporarily stunned that some leaf brat would know the name of their benefactor. Kara took full advantage of their hesitance to make the first strike.

--

"Tch… son of a bitch…" Anko held the base of her neck as she trudged through the Forest of Death. Her recent encounter with her former sensei was still fresh in her memory. "Egotistical bastard… ugh." She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. "Just get to the Tower. That's all I need to do right now." _I need to keep this under control._

Two ANBU jumped down from the trees above. "Where've you been, Anko?" The one in a bird mask reached forward questioningly.

"Yeah, we were looking all over the place." The second one laughed. "Thought you might have gone and ditched us."

"Would the two of you just shut up?" She rolled her eyes and kept her pace on her way to the tower. "I need to get to the tower. You", she nodded toward the second operative, "go tell the Hokage that I need to speak with him immediately and for him to meet me there. And you", she reached out and grabbed the avian fellow by the arm; "help me get where I'm going."

With an indifferent shrug both soldiers complied with her orders; one disappearing into the forest, the other acting as a cane when her steps faltered. "Ma'am, if I may ask you a question… are you alright?"

"No. You may not ask me a question. And no, I am not alright." She held her neck tighter. _Damn it, damn it, damn it!_

--

"Sakura! Move!" _What is wrong with Kakashi's students? It's like they want to get injured! They never move out of the freakin' way! _Kara dashed forward to protect the reckless girl, being in the process reckless herself. She landed between the lead Sound ninja and Sakura, blocking the strike with her arm.

"Foolish move, little girl." The hunchback's eye curved up in a cruel smile. "I would have thought that by now you would have understood the nature of our attacks." The mechanism on his arm resonated with a terrifyingly high pitched screech.

A breathless "….ah" escaped her lips. Instantly, Kara's knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground. Everything was spinning wildly out of control through her eyes. However, unconsciousness evaded her worn body. "…ugh." With her hair down and plastered to her face with sweat, she tried to look back at the girl she just sacrificed herself for. "Do something, Sakura." There was a muffled, strained answer. "Sakura?" Kara threw herself around to see the fair-faced girl in a headlock. The female Sound ninja had subdued her, taking full advantage of the girl's long pink hair.

"Don't worry, sweetie." The hunchback knelt down and patted Kara on the head condescendingly. "Kin is taking good care of her for you. Zaku, watch this one for me, would you?" He stalked closer to the two unconscious boys.

"Yeah. I got her, Dosu." The third member of their team sauntered over to where Kara lay and delivered a solid kick to her ribs. Kara's body rolled to the side as she coughed up blood. "What's the matter? Is your balance that horrible or do you just not like me?"

From behind dirt covered lashes, Kara's blue eyes glared up at the arrogant boy. "The latter." She closed her eyes, ignored her hearing and focused solely on the feeling of the ground beneath her. _If it's sound that's deceiving me then I just won't rely on it._ "Definitely the latter." Her legs swung out wildly and knocked the boy off his feet.

Sakura took what little courage she could out of Kara's sudden uprising and fought back. A quick slice and her hair was severed, freeing her from Kin's grasp.

"Get 'em under control, you fools!" Dosu paused in his approach and turned back to his two teammates who were still struggling with the girls. Sakura ended up several feet away, knocked back against a tree while Kara was sprawled out on her stomach, Zaku's foot pressing down on her back. "Thank you… geez…" Dosu spun back around only to be faced with an unexpected surprise.

Standing before him with a dark, immense chakra swirling around him, was Sasuke. Across half of his body were black markings, which served to make his Sharingan eyes all the more threatening.

Everyone froze. Zaku even removed his foot from Kara's back. Instinctually, she clawed at the ground and sat up. She was the last to catch sight of the recently recovered boy. "Sasuke…!" Her shocked voice broke the silence.

His red eyes focused in on where she was. _Kara? What the hell? She's always…!_ The near-demonic glare studied her appearance. Kara was kneeling in the dirt, her left arm hung down at her side while her right stayed rooted in the earth below her for balance. She had cuts, scrapes and bruises all over her body and a nice mixture of blood, dirt and sweat kept her hair matted to one side of her face. Almost out of place were her bright eyes; two cerulean orbs peering out from behind a jagged obsidian curtain. "Kara." He called out to her. "Who did that to you?" His voice, though calm, screamed rage. _Constantly! Every time I turn my back, she's… she's always getting hurt._

"Uh…" Her left hand reached up and pushed back her filthy tresses. She was too stunned to answer. _Oh god… those marks all over him. What's happened to him? Is it because of the bite?_

"Tch!" Zaku was unimpressed. "I did it. I beat the crap out of this little bitch and I'll do the same to you!" He delivered one last swift kick to Kara's back, knocking her down before he stretched out his arms to attack Sasuke with his crushing winds. "Ha! You're nothing special!" A howling wind erupted from his hands, missing Kara on the ground by mere inches.

"You sure about that?" The Uchiha was standing just to the side of the foolhardy Sound ninja. Zaku stood frozen in fear, his arms still outstretched in front of him. "My, you're awfully proud of those arms aren't you?" Kara turned around just in time to see Sasuke grab the boy's wrists and spin him around, forcing Zaku's face into the dirt with his precious arms pulled back at a strained and awkward angle. "How do you like having someone standing on your back, huh?" He stomped his foot down on the boy's back, putting further strain on his captive arms.

Kara stared up at Sasuke from where she sat. _Why is he smiling like that?_ She thought in a worried tone as she noticed the merciless grin plastered across the boy's face. _Chivalry is one thing, but this… no this is just wrong. Sasuke's a jerk but he's not this!_ _Why is he acting like this?! _There was a loud snap accompanied by a terrible tearing sound as one of Zaku's arms broke while the other was pulled loose from its socket. The scream of agony that escaped the boy's lips shocked Kara out of her thoughts.

"You're next." Sasuke turned to Dosu and slowly stalked toward him.

Before she knew what she was doing, Kara was on her feet, throwing herself around Sasuke's arms and chest. "Stop it… just stop." She whispered, not knowing anything better to say. Everything was still. Kara could just imagine how stupid she must look with her forehead digging into the Uchiha's shoulder while they were surrounded by two still fully capable enemies. But she didn't care at the moment. She just knew in her heart that it was the right thing to hold on to him.

_But Kara… god, why do I even care?_ Sasuke allowed his tightly held fists to loosen slowly.

Dosu's eye widened in relief when the black markings covering the boy's left side began to recede. _Thank god that girl stopped him. There's no way any of us would have survived if she hadn't. I've got to get Zaku and Kin and get out of here. I don't know what the hell Orochimaru-sama is up to anymore, but we're definitely not cut out for taking an Uchiha with a curse mark on._ "We'll be leaving now." The hunchback's voice was laced with a placating quality.

Kara's head snapped up at the simple announcement. "What do you mean, 'you're leaving now'?" Her soft voice ground on the vowels due to the blood in her throat. "You're not going anywhere until you explain what's going on here." Dosu simply ignored her demand, collected his teammates and made his way into the forest. "Hey!" Just as Kara released Sasuke to chase after them, he fell back into her. "Ah... gah, come on Sasuke-kun." The two fell to the dirt. "I can't hold you're heavy rear-end up." She pushed his suddenly weak body to the side.

"Sorry for the inconvenience." He mumbled as he sat up straight, holding his aching neck.

She watched as the Sound ninja disappeared behind the dense forestry. "No… it's fine." Kara shook her head and reached out to him. "Are you alright?" Her hand brushed down his arm.

_She just got beat to a pulp and she's asking how I am? Tch… typical, stupid Kara. _"I'm fine." He stared down at his hands. "Actually, I think I'm better than fine."

"What do you mean?" Kara peered over her shoulder, noticing that Sakura had also recovered from the ambush and was tending to the still unconscious Naruto. _I wonder why she's not fawning over her boyfriend right now._

_This power… That man gave me this power. Enough power to avenge my family... _Sasuke glanced up from his hands and over at Kara."I mean, I'm fine. What the hell are you doing here?" He scowled, forcing anger into his voice.

A satisfied smile graced Kara's worn and ragged appearance. "There's the Sasuke I know and love." She laughed only to cough up a bit more blood and spit it out off to the side. "Heh, I am here because I owed Ms. Haruno a favor." She nodded behind them to the pink-haired kunoichi. "And because, believe it or not, I care." The girl scooted closer to him and nudged him on the shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke stared at her warily. The last time their faces had been so close, they were fighting in Tazuna's kitchen.

Kara's blue eyes stared into his coal, black ones, keeping him from moving as she reached up to remove his hand from his neck. "I want to see this 'bite wound'." She grabbed his hand and pulled it away to reveal the mark.

Sasuke continued to watch her movements with the slightest bit of anxiety as she examined the marking. Finally, he couldn't take it in silence anymore. "What does it look like?" He mumbled.

"Like three commas, circled around." Very gingerly, she let her finger graze along the outer edge of one of the commas. "Does it hurt?"

He took a deep breath. "Yea. It's a dull, throbbing pain, right now."

Kara looked up at him again, her face full of worry and concern; her voice colored with an unhealthy curiosity. "And when it spreads?"

Sasuke couldn't stop the small smirk from crossing his lips as he recalled the events of just a few moments ago. "It's more power than I ever thought I could possibly attain. It's… wonderful." He felt Kara silently pull away from him. "What is it?"

_It wasn't wonderful. It was terrifying. _"… Nothing." She quickly recovered and flashed her trademark smile. "But I think it's time I left." Slowly and one limb at a time, she tried to raise herself from the ground. Instantly and without thought, Sasuke stood and held her elbow to steady her. "Thanks." The two walked over to Sakura and Naruto a couple of yards away. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Kara pulled back her captive elbow and bent down to get a better look at the equally battered girl.

"Mmhm." Sakura nodded as she looked back and forth between the two standing individuals. "Thank you, Kara." Her head fell. "Without you… I don't know what would have happened."

"Aw…" Kara nudged Sakura in the side and chuckled to diffuse the morose tension of the clearing. "I know what would have happened." Both Sakura and Sasuke looked at her; one confused, the other already expecting a punch line. "Early bird here," she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb, "would have woken up a bit sooner and put those creeps in their place." Kara patted the girl on the head indolently. "Sasuke-kun is a part of your team. He'll take care of you."

Kara stood back up and wavered slightly in her footing. Again, without thought as before, Sasuke held her arm and steadied her. With fluid enough motion that Sakura didn't notice, her attention being back on Naruto, he leaned in and hissed in Kara's ear. "Who's going to take care of you?"

"Hm?" Kara pulled away from his grasp and pondered the question for a moment. Two people standing up in the trees above them caught her eye. "They'll watch out for me." She nodded up toward their position.

Up in the trees on the other side of the small clearing were Neji and Lee. The Hyuuga glared daggers at Kara and Sasuke while the little Green Beast's eyes were nearly watering over with tears at the sight of a beaten Sakura. _Tch… those losers? Where were they when you were getting your ass handed to you?_ Sasuke glared back equally but gave up the effort when another wave of pain shot through his neck. He sighed and reflexively held the pained area again.

The two jumped down from their perch and joined the four on the ground. Lee went straight to Sakura and Naruto while Neji marched right up to Kara and tore into her. "You're late." He calmly growled. It unsettled her more than if he had been shouting.

"Well… ya' see…" Kara gestured to the scene around her. "Some things came up and--"

"I don't care." Neji interrupted harshly. "I told you not to start any fights. What about that didn't you understand."

"I understood just fine." The raven-haired girl continued to elaborate in a conciliatory tone. "But I couldn't not do anything."

"You disobeyed an order." His voiced lowered further while his chin rose indignantly.

She remained silent in response to his last accusation. Perhaps it was the extent of her injuries that allowed Kara's resolve to give way. _I know I broke a rule but… they'd all be dead if hadn't done what I had. I mean… what's more important? Following the rules or saving a life?_

"Just shut it." Sasuke rolled his eyes with more exaggeration that would have been necessary to gain Neji's attention. "I'm already sick of your attitude… and I've only known you for a few days."

The Hyuuga's narrowed, pale eyes shifted over to him. "Just who do you think you're telling to shut up?"

"Uh… Neji-kun." Kara took a step forward to put herself between the two boys, placing one hand on each of their chests. "We've all had an unpleasant morning as far as I can tell. Let's not make it any worse, okay?"

With a snort of disgust, Neji snatched Kara's elbow and dragged her away from Sasuke and his team, shouting over his shoulder for Lee to follow. "Lee. We're leaving."

As Neji continued to lead her toward the forest, Kara glanced over her shoulder at Sasuke; a half smile on her face and a pleading look in her eyes. _Please be careful, Sasuke-kun. That mark is bad news._

"Goodbye my beloved Sakura-chan! Be safe!" Lee professed flamboyantly. He quickly joined his teammates as they disappeared into the woods.

"Good bye, Lee-kun." The weak blossom nodded her head and then turned to look at Sasuke, still standing off to the side. "Sasuke?"

"Hm?" He didn't look at her, his eyes still trained on the last spot he had seen Kara.

Sakura struggled to her feet by herself. "What do we do now?"

The boy rubbed his neck again. The pain refused to subside even in the least. He finally turned to look at his injured teammates. _Geez… and I thought Kara looked bad. Then again, Sakura's a softie. She probably bruises a lot easier than her._ "We should find a place to hide and heal from our injuries." He walked over to the unconscious Naruto and threw the boy over his shoulder. Another wave of pain shot through him. _Ah… tch… that was a bad idea._ "Come on. Follow me, Sakura."

--

About fifteen minutes after they had left Sakura and the others, Lee noticed a change in his female teammate's behavior."Kara-chan, are you feeling alright?" Lee's sweet expression pierced straight through her tough girl front.

She shook her head back and forth quickly. "Nuh-uh…" Whatever adrenaline she had in her system was now completely spent. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her ribcage as the group made their way through the thick undergrowth of the forest. Their un-appointed captain, Neji, was in the lead.

The two heard him sigh dramatically. "You're hurt worse than you let on, aren't you?" He stopped his march and spun around to face her. She nodded curtly; not wanting to speak for fear that the required intake of air would cause her entire chest to shatter in a massive explosion leaving only torn remnants of what was once her torso. What a wild imagination, no?

"Why didn't you tell us?" Lee roundhouse kicked a tree to make a stump for her to sit on. Kara twitched her shoulders to signify that she didn't know why. The little green beast guided her down into a sitting position.

"Move." Neji pushed the kind boy to the side as he used his bloodline limit to properly examine Kara's injuries. She scrunched her face up in a scowl at his actions. As useful and practical as it was to be able to have someone who could see inside of you with the clarity of an X-ray and MRI combined, Kara found the ability to be uncomfortably invasive and downright disturbing. "Hmph… I told you not to get involved in any fights. This is why!"

Lee's fluffy eyebrows shot up in curiosity and concern. "What is it? What's hurting her?"

Neji blinked and let the veins that bulged out of his face return to normal. "She's got three fractured ribs; two on the left, one on the right. It'll be fine in a few days with some rest. Nothing life threatening, though I'm sure the pain must feel as though it were." Kara squeezed her eyes closed and nodded once, agreeing with his assessment. "All we can do is wrap it and pray she doesn't sneeze."

The girl's eyes popped back open at the end of his last statement. "Sneeze?" She whispered with the smallest breath she could manage.

"You think it hurts now? Heh…" Neji reached into his pack and tossed Kara a roll of tape. "Hurry up. I'd like to get our Earth scroll today and not have to spend another night out here."

She tossed the tape up in the air and caught it again with a solemn nod of her head and walked behind a tree to wrap her chest on her own. Despite the pain, she finished quickly and without a single scream of agony.

--

Kara's team had gotten lucky. By the early afternoon, they had stumbled upon a weak newbie team from Kumogakure. The Cloud ninja had been so unfortunate as to eat the wrong kind of berries from the forest. They were doubled over holding their stomachs in agony when Neji waltzed right up, took their Earth scroll from them and walked away. The best kind of victory is the one that does not involve fighting.

Worn and tired from a long day, Kara and her teammates finally made it to the central tower by sunset. A brief 'congratulations' by a randomly assigned Jounin greeted them as they rolled out the two scrolls. "Nice job, kiddos." The man gave them a bored half-smile. "You finished in just two days. Now you get three to relax and get ready for the rest of the exam." He directed them toward the rooms of the tower that were reserved for those that finished earlier than the rest and disappeared.

"You guys go on ahead." Kara shooed them away as she headed in a different direction. "I'm gonna find a kitchen. I'm starving."

"If you find any food, bring me some." Neji offhandedly ordered her.

"I too am quite famished, Kara-chan." Lee dutifully followed the Hyuuga toward their quarters. "Bring me some curry if they have any. The hot stuff!"

_Do I look like your guys' keeper? _Kara rolled her eyes and just waved over her shoulder in acknowledgement that she heard their requests. The growl of her stomach was enough to hurry her onward in her hunt. However, after twenty minutes of searching, she still had not found anything even remotely resembling a pantry.

_Maybe it's this way… _She lazily shuffled her feet around a corner, knocking a bit of dust up into the air, and stopped. _Ugh… another dead end. I thought this was a tower not a labyrinth! _Just as she was about to turn around and go back the way she came, the exponentially growing sound of several heavy footsteps caught her ears. _Oh? What's that?_ Kara knelt down and tentatively peered around the corner, careful not to reveal her presence.

Walking down the hallway were several of Konoha's elite, the Hokage himself included.

_Whoa… I wonder what's going on. I bet it's really important. _Kara watched as the several men and women funneled into what she had discovered earlier to be a large, empty conference room. Among the ninja gathered, she recognized the proctors of the first two exams, her sensei, Tenzou and Kakashi.

The door quietly shut behind the last one to enter the room. Kara leaned back against the wall she had been hiding behind. For a grand total of ten seconds, she wrestled with her conscience, her curiosity and her stomach's incessant craving. _Aw, geez…_ She sighed in defeat to her curiosity, the strongest of her current emotions. With all the stealth and agility that Gai had managed to instill in her, Kara glided across the hall and leaned against the wall of the conference room. Her ear pressed to its flat surface could hear the meeting surprisingly well. _I better not get in any trouble for this. _She sternly warned her curiosity. It only snickered in reply.

--Inside the room--

"So what's going on?" Asuma's brazen voice broke the silence of the crowd.

The Hokage settled himself in a chair at the front of the room. "I'm afraid there's been a complication." He gestured for Anko to stand and explain for him.

The woman's hard-lined features deepened as she stood. Without hesitation, she tersely stated the situation. "Orochimaru has infiltrated the exam." A pallid hush swept through the air. The gathering impatiently waited for her to elaborate further. "It's my understanding that he's after one of our genin."

"Which one?" Gai snapped. He failed to notice Kakashi's head drop slightly; he already suspected who Anko was talking about.

"Uchiha Sasuke." She answered, again without care for tact. "He's already given him a curse mark. And against the odds, he's survived. I'll continue to have him watched, but not interfered with. At least not until he either arrives at the tower or fails to complete the exam."

Tenzou twitched, anxious to ask a question, but unable to do so as it was his duty to remain silent at the Hokage's side. Though, when has that stopped him before? He leaned down and whispered to the Hokage his question.

"Hn." The old man sighed and turned toward Anko again. "Tell them why we aren't going to stop the exam and hunt down Orochimaru."

The anger on the woman's face was apparent. "He delivered a rather vague threat that if anything were to interrupt the exam, ergo his plans, something bad was going to happen."

"You mean, like, something worse than just letting him carry out his objectives?" Another seated Jounin spoke up in an obnoxious and savvy manner.

Anko shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say? Our best bet at finding out what he's doing here is to let him continue on toward completing his goal."

Ibiki stood up and voiced his opinion. "Completing his goal? We know what his goal is. It's to destroy Konoha. When has that ever changed?" He rushed forward and bowed reverently before the Hokage. "Sir, I can have my men sweep the town and find that god-forsaken snake in a matter of hours. Please sir. Cancel the exam immediately."

The Hokage sighed tiredly. "No. I've left the decision to Anko. I believe her judgment in this matter to be the best course of action. Take a seat, Ibiki."

"But, sir--" He was cut off by a wave of the old man's wrinkled hand. Bowing brusquely, the interrogator backed down and stalked past Anko on his way back to his seat. "Irresponsible, little bitch…" He hissed at her quietly.

Anko took the insult in stride. "Arrogant fucker." Her comment was decidedly louder in volume. "If you've got a problem with my authority here, why don't you grow a pair and say it out loud for everyone to hear?"

Ibiki stopped in his tracks and spun around to face her again. "I said you're an irresponsible, little bitch whose emotional issues with that bastard Orochimaru are putting the entire village at risk. People are going to die."

"Alright then. Give them here." She put out her hand in an expectant manner.

He stared at her coldly. "What?"

The woman chuckled playfully. "Your Death warrant and those of whomever else you think is going to die. I have no problem signing them." Her arm remained extended, palm side up.

"That's enough, Anko. I think you've made your point." Kakashi remained seated on the opposite side of the room, not even bothering to turn his head in the argument's direction.

"Yes. I think that's enough infighting for today. Especially given our new circumstances." The Hokage rose from his seat. "Those of you whose students pass the second portion of the exam, I expect to see you here in three days time. Until then, you are all dismissed."

--

The finality of the Hokage's words and the sound of feet shuffling toward the door alerted Kara to the coming crowd. She quickly dashed back across the hall and scuffled around the corner, hidden from view. From her low-lying position, she watched the room empty of its occupants. _Orochimaru? Sasuke? Curse mark?! Destroy Konoha?!! I-I don't even know what to think anymore! _Kara slid back, completely around the corner and let her head gently fall to the ground. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. A poor decision in such a dusty, old place.

--

Anko leaned back against the outside wall of the conference room, her jaw clenched and eyes trained on the floor in front of her as the group dispersed. Kakashi, the last one to leave, patted her on the shoulder. "Relax. Everything will work out." He knew how deep Ibiki's comments had cut. She snorted, in what he interpreted as some form of agreement, before he too turned and left her standing there alone.

"You're god damn right, everything will work out." The woman took two long strides forward and kicked the opposite wall. _Stupid, fucking Orochimaru. Damn you… damn you for damning me._

She sighed, stuffed her hands into her coat pockets and began to walk away when the most peculiar sound startled her.

"Ahhh-CHOOO!!! AHH! OOOoH Ohhhh ACk, Gah! Hah… ooooh…"

Anko flew around the corner and saw a young girl desperately clutching her chest, doing her best not to whimper on the floor. "Who the hell are you!?" She grabbed the child by the arm and pinned her against the wall, paying no mind to the obvious pain she was in.

"OH!…hmm?" The flashes of color and high-pitched ringing in Kara's eyes and ears were just starting to fade away. "I, uh…"

"Your name." Anko growled harshly.

The pain, now dulling, allowed Kara's mind to finally rejoin the world. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to spy. Well, I kinda did, but not like a spy would spy. I was just hungry and trying to find the kitchen in this place. But I don't think there is one and I-I… I, uh…" Anko was staring at the girl the same way Gai had stared at her on her first day of training; as if she were trying to remember where she had seen her before. "Ma'am?"

Anko let go of the little girl and took a step back to get a better look at her. "Meh… it's nothing. You just look a bit like someone I know." She dismissed the nagging suspicion in her mind and refocused her attention. "Now then. As I asked earlier, 'who, in the hell, are you'?"

"Harada Kara." She blinked innocently.

The Jounin's eyebrow rose slightly. "How much did you hear, Miss Kara?"

Kara gulped nervously. The woman struck her as highly unstable and clearly dangerous. However, that didn't stop her from answering truthfully. "Um… all of it." There was a moment of relative silence in the empty hallway. "I won't repeat any of what I've heard; if that's what you're worried about."

"Oh, I wasn't worried about that." Anko waved the promise off dismissively with a deceptively sweet smile. "Cause if you tried, I'd just cut out your tongue."

For the first time in Kara's life, she prayed that her sensei would come rushing to her aid. She doubted he would last long against a merciless psychopath like this woman, but at least his interference would buy her some time to run away. "…heh…heheh. Um, well… I should probably get going then. It was nice meeting you ma'am." She slowly side stepped, edging closer and closer to the corner and her getaway.

Anko's arm shot out and held onto Kara's shoulder, thwarting any hope of escape. "Oh, enough with the 'ma'am'. I'm much too young to be called that. Don't you know my name?"

Kara gulped again, this time out of fear. She could feel her own pulse pounding against her eardrums. _Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! I wasn't paying attention during the beginning of the second exam. I know she's the proctor but I never caught her name! Oh God! She's gonna freak, isn't she? God! Why didn't I pay more attention!? Neji is always telling me to pay more attention. Why didn't I listen to him just this once?_ "It's… uh…" She cleared her throat and braced herself for the coming assault. "I don't recall." The mechanical tone of her voice amused the older woman more than the words may have insulted her.

"Ha! You're a quirky little one, ain't cha?" Anko pinched her cheeks. Kara could feel the blood rushing back to her head. "The name's Mitarashi Anko. It has been a pleasure to meet you." She grabbed Kara's hand and shook it with a good amount of force. "I guess I'll be seeing you again at the end of the second exam, eh?"

Kara nodded her head with a stupid grin plastered on her shell-shocked face. "Uh-huh." She mumbled, her verbal motor skills not quite recovered from the stress of the situation just yet.

"Well then." The Jounin lead Kara out into the adjacent hallway. "If you go down that way and take the second left, go up two flights of stairs and then take the fifth right down that hall, you'll end up right by the dormitories. At the end of that hallway is a kitchen especially for you over-achievers who've finished the exam early. I think they put it so close to your rooms in case any of you had injuries that required bed rest. Wouldn't want you to put too much strain on your little bodies just cause ya'll were hungry and looking for food." She chuckled and patted Kara on the back.

_You have got to be kidding me._ Kara thought blandly. _The kitchen… was where our rooms were. Where Neji and Lee are… this entire time… And neither one came to get me!!!_ "Thank you ma'am. Err--I mean, Anko-san." Kara bowed and slipped out of the deadly ninja's hold. "Goodbye." She took long, rushed strides until she arrived at the second left. Once disappearing around the corner, she broke out into a sprint.

"Buh-bye!" Anko called after her. "What a cute kid. I wish I had a little sister like her." In a decidedly improved mood, thanks to Kara's presence, she turned and headed out of the tower. Just as she was about to open the door that lead outside, it swung open by someone else rushing in. "Whoa! Watch it!" Anko took a step back to prevent the man from knocking her down in his hurry.

He stopped in his tracks. "Anko? I was just going back up to check on you. I thought you'd be right behind me, but you weren't." _I was a bit worried, what with you being so agitated in an enclosed space with other human beings. Someone could have gotten hurt._

"Oh please… I'm perfectly alright, Kakashi." She laughed off his concern and pushed him playfully in the shoulder. "In fact, I'm in a pretty good mood now."

"Is that so? What happened?" He opened the door for her and the two walked out into the surrounding forest.

"I met the most adorable little girl. She was so silly, it made me laugh." She laughed again at the memory of Kara's awkward replies. "Positively enchanting. I immediately liked her."

_Poor kid… Anko liked me right of the bat too and I'm still traumatized. _Kakashi's eye curved up in a placating smile. "What was her name?"

Anko's laughter calmed down to a small chuckle. "Uh… it's... huh? I can't remember." She broke out in another loud laugh. "Ha! That's funny! She couldn't remember my name either. Aw, well. She's part of a group that passed the exam early. I'll see her again in a few days. It'll come to me then."

* * *

**(FYI: No. Anko doesn't know anything about Kara's history.)**

**Holy crap, I wonder why Anko got so much screen time? (Methinks the author might have ulterior motives… and enjoys talking in the third person) Yea, I'm not a real big AnkoXIbiki fan. Not to say I'm making them enemies. They're just too tough to mesh well with each other. **

**I do hope ya'll liked my interpretation of Anko. There's not a whole hell of a lot to go on in terms of character reference. But truth be told, I'd probably write her however I pleased even if there was a lot to go on.**

**Oh and thanks to the few that reviewed when I posted a preview of this chapter. I wasn't even thinking about reviews when I posted that. I just wanted to throw out a spoiler. XP **

**Review again (or for the first time)!!!**

**To all reviewers, Dosu says: "Thank you… geez…"  
(Ugh, so Napoleonic. I think I'm gonna puke.)**


	14. Letter Burn

**Rokubi****: Hey there! We've been expecting you!  
****Kara****: Um… hi. Where am I?  
****Rokubi****: Hehehe. This is the dark side. The place where demons and emos hang out. (Points out the attractions… I mean residents.) Sasuke is right over there and so is Early Version Gaara and the great granddaddy of us all, Pain.  
****Kara****: But I'm not emo... or a demon for that matter.  
****Rokubi****: Do you know who your mommy was? Do you know why you have natural silver hair? Do you know the Muffin Man?!  
****Kara****: (Becoming progressively frightened) No… Who told you that?!... That lives in Drury Lane?!? (Turns to see Jack slumped over the counter of a conveniently placed open bar) Jackie-neechan? What are you doing here? What's going on?!  
****Jack****: (completely ignoring Kara and grumbling) …goddamn, mother-fucking Penguins… I hate flightless birds. Seriously, what kind of back-ass-wards kind of bird can't fly? … hit me again, barkeep!**

**Yay, Foreshadowing! Hope ya'll like the new chapter! It's markedly longer than previous chapters!**

* * *

Chapter 14: Letter Burn

"Get up, Kara-chan!" Lee's sing-song voice called out to her from the foot of her bed. "We're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" There was mumbled response of 'Ten more minutes.' to his cheerful wake-up call.

"Here." Neji walked past him with a pillow in hand. He stood beside Kara's sleeping form and whispered in her exposed ear. "Get up now."

One blue eye popped open and glared at him. "Go away." She hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

"Last chance." He warned. She ignored the courtesy, closed her eye again and snuggled deeper into the blankets.

It was a bad choice. She felt a sudden weight on her head along with a dramatic decrease in air. Her eyes opened wide only to see pitch black nothingness. _AH! What the?!_ Her arms shot up in a natural defensive response. They clawed at the feather down pillow that was slowly depriving her of oxygen. The pressure holding it on her head disappeared and Kara chucked the instrument of torture across the room; smacking Lee in the face.

"Oh!" The green child rubbed his nose but otherwise remained silent as his teammates squabbled.

"Y-you tried to smother me! What in the world is wrong with you?!" Kara shot out of her bed and shoved Neji hard. "You could have killed me!"

The Hyuuga shook his head back and forth, brushing her comments aside. "You're out of bed aren't you? Now come on. The last of the teams to finish the second exam have arrived. They want us all assembled down in some big arena downstairs." He walked out of the room, Lee following dutifully behind.

"Yea, well… there are better ways to get me outta bed!" She shouted after them as she slammed the door to her dorm. "Lousy, rotten, no-good… jerk could have brought me some breakfast. I totally would have gotten up for some bacon." Kara briskly got dressed, not caring in the slightest about her injury from just a few days earlier. _Hmmm…_ She poked at her ribs curiously with gradually increasing force; just to make sure. _Almost as good as new. Guess I'm a quick healer… or I was just exaggerating the pain in my mind._ As she rushed out the door, she made sure one item in particular was safely tucked into her sleeve; her precious unopened 'good luck' letter.

Once downstairs the reality of it all struck her. _This is real. I really made it this far. _She watched as the other twenty hopefuls filed in, in the middle of the arena. Among them, she recognized the blonde bully that tried to push her around during the first exam, the Sound ninja that had more than shamed her during the second and of course Sasuke's team. _Wow… kinda surprised they made it. _Before the group was the Hokage along with every team's Jounin sensei and the proctors from the first two exams. _Uh-oh, I better hurry up._

Kara hurried to rejoin her team, but she was still the last to shuffle into her place. The long boring speech from the Hokage barely reached her ears. Kara was much too preoccupied with her own thoughts. _I didn't think I'd make it this far. Maybe the other applicants were just really weak. But that would mean that these here are really strong, right? _A few bits and pieces of the old man's speech registered in her mind. _Man… I don't wanna get myself killed over this. The only fight I got into during this whole time, I lost. I probably would have died if Sasuke hadn't saved me. _The memory stung. _I shouldn't have lost to losers like those Sound Ninja. I shouldn't have needed saving. …but I did. There's no way I'm good enough to qualify as a Chunnin. _

Another proctor appeared and began explaining something along the lines of a preliminary round before the third exam. Her head and her heart conflicted with each other over whether or not she should bow out gracefully. _I know I'm probably going to get beaten within an inch of my life… or worse, but I couldn't bear to be branded as a quitter. _Neji was standing in front of her, Lee behind her. She fidgeted in place, not knowing what decision to make. _Never give up, never surrender? Or Flee and Live to fight another day?_

A nerdy looking leaf ninja raised his hand and quit. _See? This is serious. He's the smart one. Getting out while he still can. I should raise my hand too. I'm not cut out for this kind of stuff. I'm too soft. I haven't had enough experience yet. Maybe in a few years, after I've killed a person or two. I mean really… how can they expect a kid like me to understand the gravity of a situation like this? It's life and death. I've barely lived! I don't wanna die now!_

"Ahem…" The new proctor cleared his throat. "Um, right. We will now begin the preliminary rounds."

All the blood rushed out of Kara's face. _W-what?! I-I didn't make up my mind yet! They can't do that! Can I still quit? …oh man. What's this sudden dizzy feeling? _Her eyes slowly lost focus. _Hmm… I think I'm about to faint. Wait. If I think I'm about to faint, can't I stop and not faint?_ Neji turned around to face her. He reacted to her dazed and confused state without so much as batting an eyelash. No one noticed anything unusual as he forcefully guided her up the steps to the upper level of the arena.

"W-what happened?" Kara whispered to him upon realizing that she had been moved to this new location.

Neji stood next to her with his arms crossed over his chest, looking down at the first round's combatants. "You fainted without falling down. I think your knees locked or something. Don't tell me you're that scared?"

"Wha? Tch… no." She snorted with an air of false overconfidence. "I'm just that psyched." _Darn it… oh well. I'm sure Gai-sensei will stop the match before I die._ "So, who's on first?"

Her other teammate, Lee, answered her. "Uchiha Sasuke and some guy named Akado Yoroi." He stood on her other side, tensed and anxious.

"Oh…" _OH! Can Sasuke even fight with that curse mark? Is it safe? _Kara spun around to look up at her sensei.

The look on her face screamed 'Talk to me', 'Reassure me'. "Yes, Kara-chan?"

Gai smiled at her and that was enough to deter her attention. "Nothing, sensei." Her searching eyes latched onto the next closest thing to a father figure she had. _It's not safe for him to be fighting… is it?_

Kakashi stared back at the young girl silently. _I wonder why she looks so worried, almost like Sakura._ He glanced at the pink-haired girl and then down at his student in the midst of his fight. _Unless… Kara also knows about the curse mark. But how could she have found out?_ He looked back at Kara, but the child's gaze had drifted down to the battle below.

At the end of the first fight, Kara was the only leaf genin to not show the slightest bit of relief upon Sasuke's victory. She gripped the metal railing of the upper level tightly as Kakashi led the young boy away. _What's going on now? What's Kakashi-sempai going to do? I bet it has something to do with the curse-bite thing. Ugh… I wish someone would tell me!_

The proctor called down the next pair of opponents, Shino versus Zaku. Kara stood and watched patiently for less than a minute before she couldn't take the anxiety of not knowing any longer. "Sensei." She tugged on Gai's vest.

"What is it my little caterpillar?" Though mostly distracted by the fight, he mussed with her hair.

_I sure hope he buys my excuse._ "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"Huh? Oh, uh… okay. Just hurry back. You don't know when they'll call for your fight." He let her walk by him and rush down the stairs following the same path that Kakashi and Sasuke had taken.

Out in the hallway, she became quickly disoriented. "Ugh! Left or right? Which way did they go?" Down another passageway she dashed before abruptly running smack into a tall, sinister individual. "Oh! I'm so sorry, sir." Kara scrambled backwards and watched, somewhat dazed, as the man bent down and picked up a slightly crumpled envelope that had tumbled out of her sleeve.

"I believe you dropped this." Instead of holding it out to return it to her, he stood and opened the letter.

A jumbled mess of 'ack, w-wait, that's, but, no…' came pouring out her small mouth.

The man's serpentine eyes briefly glanced away from the correspondence and down at Kara. "Do have the decency to formulate a complete sentence before opening your mouth." He returned to reading the letter.

… … … _He's reading my letter… … The one I've never read… Oh my god, why?! He can't! But he is!_ Kara took a minute to compose herself. "Sir, please give me back my letter. It belongs to me and I do not appreciate your reading it."

"Certainly, Ms. Hatake." With a sly grin, the man delicately replaced the letter in its envelope and returned it to her. _Perhaps Kakashi would be much more willing to hand over Sasuke if I kept his little niece captive._

Kara gratefully took back the now unsealed letter. "It's Harada, sir. And thank you, but I must be going." _This man… I think I might be in trouble. _She tried to walk around him, but he seemed determined to keep her where she was.

"But of course. You would go by your father's family name and not your mother's. How foolish of me." He chuckled lightly, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her along with him down a different passageway.

She did her best to ignore the man's statement, but a mind as sharp as her's could not resist unprecedented information like that. "… my mother's… oh… uh" The gibberish from before was beginning to leak once more. _The letter… it has my mom's name in it. Did I even want to know that?_ Kara was dumbfounded and failed to make the obvious connections.

"Complete sentences, child." The man snarled a reminder of how he detested mindless babbling with an incomplete sentence of his own. _She doesn't seem to know her own family history. Could it be that she was never told? Interesting…_

The two walked into an open room with several white pillars surrounding a central lit area. Kara was barely registering what was going on, let alone where she was. It was taking every brain cell she had to not think about the implications the folded 8 x 10'' piece of paper in her hand held. She didn't even have enough to properly react to the real and immediate danger she was in. All she did was shuffle her feet along, eyes glued to the white-hot letter in her left hand.

"Long time no see, Kakashi." The pallid, snake-eyed man came to a stop, Kara stood still at his side, though not quite in the room at the moment.

_That voice!_ Kakashi swiveled around to face the man. "Orochimaru…" Almost immediately after the word tumbled out of his mouth, he caught sight of Kara. He dared not call out to her, afraid the action might result in her instantaneous death. _No. Gai, how could you let her out of your sight!? You knew as well as the rest of us that this bastard was roaming about! How am I going to get her back without him killing her first?_ "What do you want?" Ever the career ninja, Kakashi kept his cool.

"It's simple really. I want what you already have." His cryptic words received a minimal response. "I want the Sharingan that's lying behind you." He nodded to the unconscious and exhausted Sasuke lying on the floor behind Kakashi. The strain of the curse mark and its sealing had been too much for the child to bear.

_Keep your head on straight. Don't let emotion cloud your judgment._ Kakashi coached himself. "Why?"

One of Orochimaru's eyebrows rose. "Why else? Power like that is hard to come by these days."

"You must be delusional if you think I'd just let you take Sasuke." The copy ninja's words were inflated with necessary overconfidence. _If I move fast enough…_ His right hand flashed and crackled with Chidori.

A cruel smirk slithered across the Snake Sannin's lips as his grip on Kara's shoulder tightened ever so gently. "I'm sure we could come to a much more peaceable agreement… an exchange for your niece perhaps?"

Kara's death glare at the letter in her hand broke upon hearing Orochimaru speak the words her young mind refused to think. A small, haughty snort escaped the child's mouth. "Heh, like he'd believe a lie like that." Though neither man was looking at her, they were both listening to her attentively. "He's lying sempai; just trying to get under your skin. Don't give this snake what he wants." She could feel the pale, hard fingernails of her own hand digging into her thumb's cuticle. It was a stark difference from the relatively tender, however firm, grip Orochimaru had on her shoulder.

"Am I lying… 'sempai'?" The cold man chuckled tauntingly.

_Shit. I didn't want her to find out this way._ Kakashi scowled at Orochimaru, but otherwise remained silent.

Kara answered the question for him. "Of course you're lying." Another borderline hysterical laugh escaped her lips. "You must be. Because… something like that. I would know." Her frightened but confident eyes locked on Kakashi. "I would know." _Of course it's a lie. Kakashi-sempai is only staying quiet because you can't reason with psychos… right?_

"No need for you to take my word for it." Orochimaru's voice cooed in Kara's ear. "Why don't you read that precious letter of yours and learn the truth, the one he's kept from you, for yourself?"

The paper was hot iron in her hands. A sudden panic surged within her at the mere mention of there being some hidden truth that she knew nothing about. Her hands, completely against her will, opened the old, slightly wrinkled sheet of paper and raised it before her eyes. One glance would have been enough, but Kara's eyes lingered, soaking in ever last drop of toxic truth that her heart longed for. _… this doesn't make any sense. I can't believe it. I-I won't believe it!_

Orochimaru noted the deadening of Kara's facial features. "I can't help but wonder how utterly weak and useless of a child you are for the famed Copycat Kakashi to disown you?"

_I was disowned?_

"That's not how it is Kara. I'll explain… later. Look at me, Kara." Kakashi had a feeling he was running out of time, but still Kara's gaze rested on the eerily steady paper in her hands.

_What did I do to get disowned?_

Trapped in a daze, Kara felt the Snake Sannin's hand slip off her shoulder, freeing her to make her own choice. Choices these days seemed easy. Though, all were most certainly rash and the result of ill conceived thoughts. Referring to something in the letter, she thought, _what did my mother do that was horrible enough for her daughter to have to pay the price?_

Kakashi watched carefully as Orochimaru's hand drifted away from Kara. _Now's might be her only chance. Damn it, this is going to sound really bad…_ "Get out of here, Kara!"

_He… he doesn't want me._ Childish emotions of abandonment and self-loathing washed over her small frame, drowning her in an instant.

"You heard me, didn't you? I said run!" He shouted again, Chidori still crackling in his palm.

Kara spun around on her heel and dashed out of the chamber. She ran and ran, not knowing or caring where she was headed. As fast as her weighed down legs could carry her, she ran blindly down the dimly lit corridors. Faster and faster, deeper and deeper, her mind became clouded with both exhaustion and tears. When she finally stopped it was only because she had run headlong into another human form.

"Whoa there! What in the hell are you doing running around out here?" The figure bent down and got a good look at the shell-shocked child.

--

"Hey guys." Kakashi appeared behind his two remaining students in the preliminary battle arena.

"Sensei!" Naruto's cheerful grin greeted him.

"Don't 'hey' us!" Sakura snapped. "Where's Sasuke-kun? Is he okay?"

_Geez… not even a pleasant 'hello, where've you been?' _"He's perfectly fine. Asleep in the infirmary." While another pair of applicants was called to the ground floor for their fight, Kakashi looked around discreetly for Kara. _What?! She's not here! Where is she?_ He drifted over toward Gai, not wanting to speak to the man, but not having too many alternatives at the moment either. "Where's Kara?", he whispered.

"Hm?" Gai looked over at Kakashi. The silver-haired man rarely started conversations with him, though he frequently ended them. "Oh, I let her have a bathroom break. I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"How long ago was that?" He used a serious tone, subtly alerting Gai that there was something very wrong with the fact that Kara was not with them at the moment.

The Green Beast glanced over his shoulder at the man. "… too long now that I think about it."

The latest match ended with a victory for the leaf ninja. The proctor moved on, quickly announcing who was up next. "The fifth match of the preliminaries will be Temari of the Sand versus Harada Kara. Will both competitors please step forward?"

Naruto looked around dramatically. "Hey! Where's Kara-chan?"

Lee joined the half-assed search by looking around the immediate vicinity in an overly expressive manner. Fortunately, that was all it took for him to catch sight of her shuffling in though the large doors at the far end of the enclosure. "There she is!" He shouted, alerting the entire room to her late entry. "Come on Kara-chan! You're up!"

_God, would you shut up, Lee?_ Neji rolled his eyes at the naïve boy. _You know Kara hates it when you do that._

The young girl's eyes remained downcast as the proctor from the second exam pushed her forward to the center of the arena. "Hehe… " The woman laughed ironically and shot a scowl at Kara's teacher, Gai, for losing track of her. "No worries. I got her." Anko left her standing opposite the lethal blonde. "Good luck, kiddo."

The proctor signaled for the match to begin and stepped back. Nothing happened. "Hey? What the hell? Aren't you going to attack?" Temari propped her hand on her hip and leaned against her fan. Kara listlessly shrugged her shoulders, still refusing to look up at the world around her. "I'm doing you a courtesy here. Now are you going to fight or what?"

Again, Kara shrugged her shoulders only this time with half the effort. "No. I should just forfeit."

"What?" The blonde seemed angry over the decision. "Like hell you are! I came here to fight!" Before Kara had a chance to raise her hand and make it official, Temari came at her, swinging her giant fan and knocking Kara clear across the room.

Everyone on the Leaf side of the arena was shocked into silence. Only Naruto and Lee managed to shout out in protest. "What?! Kara! Why didn't you block that attack?! Get up!" The two of them took turns shouting.

Temari sighed as she approached Kara's crumpled over form on the ground. "Noisy little cheerleaders ya' got there." She stood over the girl and scowled. "You're not even worth using my fuuton jutsu." She pulled back her leg to kick Kara in the stomach.

"Fuck you…" Kara spit out a bit of blood on the girl's foot.

"Ugh! That's disgusting!" The sand ninja screeched, shaking her foot off to the side in an effort to get rid of the blood. "I'd like to see you try."

"You won't see me." Something had snapped inside of Kara. It had nothing to do with the encouraging cheers of her comrades and everything to do with the fact that she had dealt with more than enough emotional and now physical trauma for a lifetime.

"Tch…" Temari closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, Kara was no longer on the ground. "Huh?" She swiveled around, holding her fan in front of her defensively. It was a wise decision. The fan took the brunt of Kara's kick. "Ack!" The blonde managed to land safely on her feet. "Little bitch…"

Kara was already behind her, knocking her back to the center of the arena. "You know… I've never been much of a fan of catharsis." She stalked closer to the girl as she steadied herself. "But it's not all that bad."

Temari wiped a line of blood off her cheek. "Yea. I like it too." She opened her fan and unleashed a strong gale. "I've been using it for years."

The winds sliced and cut at Kara from all sides. They would have lifted her into the air were it not for her ankle weights. But she wasn't thinking about that. Her mind stayed blank, her body numb to everything around her. When the screaming whirlwind around her dissipated, she charged forward without the slightest pause.

But the sand ninja's fuuton ninjutsu was too fast for her. Another gust was set upon her before she could reach the girl. _Keep away from me, you freak!_ Temari was slightly put off by the fact that her opponent didn't seem to notice anything except her. Like a predator, Kara's eyes were staying locked onto her prey.

The winds faded again and this time Kara was plenty close enough to reach Temari before she had a chance to deflect the attack.

Kara struck so fast it looked like a camera flash had gone off. Her fist connected with the girl's stomach causing her to double over. But before Temari could hit the ground, Kara punched and kicked her over and over. Every taijutsu trick that her sensei had ever shown her was being employed. However, something was off. Every strike was accompanied with a flare of pale red light.

Gai watched the fight with due concern. "Tell me that's not what I think it is, Kakashi." He hissed.

"I can't." Kakashi watched with similar distaste. Every flash was Kara's own version of Chidori. The burning red electricity snapped out of her knuckles with every punch; out of her foot with every kick. "She finally got it." _She's so upset. This is why I never told her. I knew she couldn't handle news like that._ He did his best to reason with himself, but deep down he still knew that this raging, livid Kara was entirely his fault.

"How could you teach… my student… that?!" Gai was borderline pissed.

_The day I take lectures on ethics from you…_ Kakashi continued to watch the fight, internalizing most of his emotions save the shared awe everyone watching showed. "…how couldn't I?" He shrugged his shoulders weakly. _I just wanted to give her something. Something special that she would always know came from me._

Kara ended her barrage with one last right upper-cut, sending the beaten blonde to the floor on her back. "The winner of the fifth round match is Harada Kara." The proctor was in a rush to hand over the victory, not wanting any unneeded death to occur. No one cheered. No one moved… except Kara. She glided over to the still conscious Temari. She wasn't done.

"What is she doing, sensei?" Lee watched nervously, knowing that something was seriously wrong, but not knowing what to do about it.

"I don't know Lee… I don't know." Gai walked up to the railing of the balcony and stood poised to jump into the arena.

If anyone had been close enough to see Kara's eyes, they would have revealed a sadness so great it had left her quite blind. Her once radiant blue eyes were clouded over in tears; silent, streaming tears. She reached Temari's body and fell down onto her, straddling the girl and keeping a hold on her neck with one hand. Kara raised her right fist, building a brilliant red charge. But it was too much for her to hold onto and her fist was forced open. The sound that erupted wasn't that of chirping birds, but rather the low thundering one would hear when a terrible summer storm was approaching, like a pack of wolves fighting for dominance amongst themselves.

_She's going to kill her!_ Kakashi was about to jump down and stop the brutal overkill, but Gai rightfully beat him to it.

Kara felt a pair of arms grab her from behind; one wrapped around her waist the other keeping her raised right arm from crashing down and obliterating the young girl beneath her; or at least the spot that the girl had inhabited until very recently. The Jounin sensei of the Sand ninja had acted at the same time as Gai, pulling Temari out from under Kara and out of range. "Let it go, Kara." Gai spoke to her softly, effectively calming her down.

The growling red lightning snapped a few more times before completely disappearing. Kara swiveled around and threw her arms around her sensei's neck, holding on for dear life. "Shhh… shhh." Gai carried her back up to the balcony as the proctor started the next round; Shikamaru versus Kin. "What happened bugaboo?" He whispered into her ear.

She kept her head down, hiding the fact that she was still crying silent tears from everyone else. "I-I know. I know the truth." Her broken voice managed to crack out.

"What truth?" Gai leaned back to get a better look at her face.

Kara also pulled back and quickly wiped the tears that had not been absorbed by the man's vest with her sleeve. She only mouthed the word, 'Kakashi'.

"…oh. That truth." The man mumbled in understanding.

His lackluster response incited a sudden outrage from the girl. She pushed herself out of his arms and down to the floor beneath them. "What do you mean, 'oh. That truth.'!" Kara shouted loud enough to pull attention from Shikamaru's match.

"Calm down Kara." Gai put his hands up defensively. "I didn't mean anything. It's just that I understand. I know what you're upset about." He kept his voice hushed, completely embarrassed by his situation; getting scolded by his emotionally unstable, fourteen year old, female student in front of several other Jounin elite.

"You know what I'm upset about? Meaning, you knew! And you didn't see fit to tell me!" The volume of her voice continued to rise.

"Kara-chan, what's wrong?" Lee reached out and held her shoulder. She had been slowly backing away from Gai and closer to the other students along the railing.

Kara's arms tensed. She could feel the electricity in her hands just burning to escape. She clearly hadn't used even half of her chakra throughout her match and the remainder was just itching to break free. But she knew better than that. She had had a few minutes to calm down and her rational mind was beginning to take control again. "Nothing." She hissed. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine." With that final statement, Kara turned around and watched the last five preliminary rounds with the rest of the genin.

She remained stone-faced throughout Naruto's comedic fight with Kiba and utterly indifferent toward her teammate Neji's cruel treatment of Hinata during their fight. Lee's awe inspiring match with Gaara of the Sand only managed to inspire the slightest bit of concern in her. As angry as she was, Lee had always been so sweet and kind to her and she couldn't help but feel a bit worried that he was going to die.

The final match between Choji and Dosu barely registered on her radar. By then she was more than ready to leave and get as far away from Kakashi and Gai as she could.

After all the matches had completed, the proctor called all the finalists down and explained to them how the third exam would work. The number that Kara had drawn was seven. _Great… I'm either fighting the whiny shadow boy or the Sound ninja that royally kicked my ass. My life just keeps getting better and better._

"Kara?" Gai followed her after the group had been dismissed.

"I don't want to talk to you sensei. I don't want to talk to anyone." She kept her brisk pace, refusing to even look at the man.

He stopped walking after her and watched as she disappeared around a corner. "Sensei." Neji stood by the man's side with his arms crossed over his chest. "What happened?" The question sounded more like a demand for information.

"It's a long story, Neji-kun." Gai patted the boy on the head. "A very long and unfortunate story." He looked down to see his student's hard-lined, pupil-less eyes staring up at him. An involuntary shiver ran down his back. "Well… you see, it all started back when Kara was born…" The two left the tower as Gai explained everything.

By the time the two walked out the front doors, Gai had already finished talking. "That wasn't a long story, sensei." Neji rolled his eyes with a huff. "That took you like two minutes to explain."

"Yes, but for Kara it's a long, complicated story." Gai nodded wisely to himself.

--

Kara shuffled out of her bathroom, fresh and cleaner than she had been in days. The letter that changed the very image of the world for her, sat quietly on her nightstand, rather inconsequential now that its contents had branded itself into her memory. She checked all the locks on her windows and front door before curling up under the covers of her bed. It was still early, but the surge and sheer range of emotions she had gone through that day had drained her.

--

The evening sunlight slipped into the kitchen where Guruko was laid out on the table. He, like all the other dogs, was depressed over the recent developments with Kara. Kakashi had told them an hour ago after discreetly checking to make sure she had gotten home safely. "Pakkun?" Guruko noticed the little pug plodding through the kitchen at floor level.

"Hn?" The lead dog paused and glanced up at the puppy.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Pakkun sighed and sat down. "You just did."

"…oh. Well, can I ask another?"

_Oy Vey…_ "Yea. Go ahead." The pug rolled his eyes.

Guruko wiggled to the edge of the table and peered down at Pakkun. "Do you think Kara hates me now?"

The question struck the dog hard. He spat out an automated response. "No, of course not. Why would you think that?"

The puppy tumbled down to floor level. "Because… I could have told her the truth, but I didn't. She must think I lied to her."

"Don't be stupid." Pakkun stood back up and started to walk away. "Kara doesn't hate you. You're a dog." He looked over his shoulder at the young one and grumbled some pop-psychology. "She's a girl. It'll take time for her to adjust. If anything, she's mad at Kakashi… the idiot."

"…oh…m'kay then…" The answer didn't really satisfy the dog, but he took it anyway. After Pakkun had gone back to his room, Guruko crawled under the kitchen table and fell asleep.

--

Kara didn't leave her apartment for over a week. Gai and Neji, the later by force, had stopped by several times to try and get to her to come out. Fruitless efforts of course. When she finally did emerge from her cave, at a very early morning hour, she knew exactly where she was headed and nowhere else.

She knocked on the sliding door of a particular hospital room. A muffled 'Come in' answered her. "Oh! Kara-chan… what are you doing here?" Lee tried to sit up as Kara walked in, but she waved her hand telling him to lie back down.

"I came to see how you were doing, what else?" She quietly sat down next to his bed. "So? How are you?"

"I'm fine. Getting stronger every day in fact." Kara imagined the wide smile on Lee's face must have hurt it was so fake. It was common knowledge around the village that it wasn't looking good for him.

"I'm glad." She pushed a stray lock of hair back behind her ear.

Lee had heard about Kara from Neji awhile back. He couldn't imagine the kind of confusion she must have felt. "Did you want to talk, Kara?"

She shook her head back and forth briefly and patted him on the knee. "Not really. But thanks, Lee." Her darkened features lightened a bit as she flashed a small smile in appreciation for the sympathy.

--

"Do it again, Sasuke." Kakashi's voice droned. He was sick and tired of the boy's failed attempts at Chidori already.

With a roll of his eyes, the Uchiha refocused himself and tried again. Another failure. "Maybe I'm not getting it because you're not teaching it right…" He grumbled indignantly.

_You wanna get snippy with me kid? …heh, screw it. I'm not in the mood._ "Maybe you're just not talented enough." The Jounin remained perched atop a nearby boulder and reflected the child's glare back at him tenfold.

"Oh? And who would be, huh? Kara, perhaps?" Sasuke shot back sarcastically, aiming for his sensei's soft spot.

"Hn." Kakashi jumped down and leaned back against the stone. "Figures, you'd find out. Who told you?"

The blatant admission went just to the left of Sasuke's head. "Told me what?" _Wait, so… what does he think I know? Does he mean about Kara and their relation?_ _How does he know that I know that?!_

"Don't be a smartass, kid. It doesn't make you look cool." Kakashi continued to have the upper hand in the conversation. _Oh wait. That's right. You were unconscious during the whole ordeal because you were stupid enough to let our village's number one enemy infect you with a curse mark that will probably ruin your life… …wow, blaming a child for being a victim. I really need to get more sleep. _The snarky tone of his own thoughts just made him feel worse over everything that had happened over the past week and a half. "It was Gai, wasn't it?"

Sasuke stared back curiously. "You don't mean about Kara do you?" He dodged a scowl from his teacher and took a shot in the dark. "The two of you are related." Bullseye; another grimace was fired at him. "Uh, no. Gai-sensei didn't tell me. You did."

"Huh?" The response prompted genuine disbelief.

He figured he didn't have anything to lose, so he readily elaborated on his explanation. "I was eavesdropping on you awhile back. You were talking to Tazuna's daughter and you admitted to it. I figured it was just some dirty little secret between the two of you. What happened? Did someone find out who wasn't supposed to?" Sasuke's voice gained some confidence because of his teacher's seemingly weakening defenses.

"Yea. Kara." _He's known for almost two months! Seriously, how did I miss that? I'm lucky he didn't say anything to Kara sooner._

It was Sasuke's turn to feel utter disbelief. "Huh? But then… you mean, she never knew?"

_Give the boy a prize._ "No. She didn't know. But that doesn't really matter right now does it?" Kakashi pulled out a handful of shuriken and prepared to throw them. "We're in training, not therapy."

_Kara never knew… so she wasn't hiding the truth. She didn't know it in the first place. _"How come? Why would you keep that from her?"

Exasperated to no end, Kakashi paused in his attack. _He's always been stuck on her, hasn't he? Well, then. I'll just use that to my advantage._ "I'll give you two options, Sasuke-kun. One: We sit down and discuss the intricacies of my personal matters regarding Kara, or Two: We train for the final exam and you master Chidori… which by the way, Kara already knows. You missed a hell of a preliminary round."

_Whoa! What?! She already mastered this jutsu! What the hell man!_ "Bring it on!" Sasuke refocused himself and braced for another attack. _I'll find out exactly happened later…_

--

'KNOCK'knock'KNOCK' The Hokage looked up from his paperwork. "Answer the door, Tenzou."

"Yes sir." The cat-masked man briskly crossed the office floor and opened the door. It took him a second to recognize the visitor. Her attire was significantly different from what she usually wore. Instead of the long-sleeved purple top and black skirt/boot combo, she wore a tight, solid red, short-sleeve shirt with black, standard issue combat pants plus the regular sandals that all ninja wore. A noticeable afterthought of the ensemble was her Konoha headband. The red sash insignia was absently tied around her left thigh. "K-Kara! Where have you been? No one's seen you in almost two weeks! Are you alright?"

She stared up at the ANBU operative from behind rather unkempt hair. "Is the Hokage busy? I'd like a moment of his time." Her voice remained as hollow as an old, dead tree.

"I'm not busy at all." The Sandaime pushed his work to the side and beckoned for the young teenager to come inside. "How have you been Kara?"

"Fine." She glided past Tenzou and sat herself down in front of the Hokage's desk.

"Is that so?" He snapped his fingers to pull Tenzou back to attention. "Bring us some tea, Tenzou."

Kara pushed her unruly tresses back to reveal her face. Her eyes were a dismal grey, her skin noticeably paler from its usual summer glow. "That won't be necessary. I don't think I'll be staying long, sir. I don't have a lot of time."

"Oh? What's your hurry?" The old man still took the drink from his assistant and pushed a cup into her hands.

"I only have another two weeks to learn a new jutsu that can beat Nara Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Technique." _I already have a strategy for defeating that Sound ninja if need be._ Steam rose from the teacup in her hands. It was green and she couldn't resist taking a polite sip. "I was hoping that perhaps you knew of some ninjutsu or otherwise that might be of some use to me."

The Hokage sat still for a moment. In fact, he knew one technique right off the top of his head that would be a perfect counter to the Nara clan's trademark jutsu, but he wanted to talk to Kara a bit longer. He, of course, had heard about what had happened between her and her estranged uncle. "Well, I'm not quite sure. Have you asked your sensei?"

Kara paused. "I haven't spoken to him in awhile." She took another prolonged sip of her tea. "Besides, taijutsu would be useless against Dark nature manipulation ninjutsu."

"Ah… so you've done your homework, eh?" _Clever girl. At least she hasn't spent this entire time holed up in her bedroom crying like most young ladies would in her shoes. _"Then you must have some idea of what jutsu would be an effective defense, yes?"

"I do, sir." Kara set down her tea and reached into her pocket, procuring a folded photocopy of a textbook page. "I was wondering if you knew anyone who could show me this jutsu." She pointed to a footnote vaguely referring to a ninjutsu that was otherwise unnoted in the book. "I couldn't find a listing for the katas required or really anything for that matter."

The old man reached out and looked closely at the fine print. _…my… She really is much too similar to her uncle; throwing herself into her work like this. To research and notice something so many would have overlooked, that's very impressive and yet at the same time very sad._ "Hmm… I only know of two individuals who have mastered this technique. I am one and the other is a former student of mine. He's the one who invented it actually."

Kara took back the piece of paper. "Is it safe to assume that there would be a conflict of interest if you showed me the technique?" The Hokage took a sip of his tea and nodded. "Then would you happen to know the whereabouts of your former student?"

"You would intend to request training from him?"

"No sir. Just a simple explanation of the jutsu so that I may train on my own." Kara finished her drink and handed the empty cup off to Tenzou, who had remained oddly quiet for the duration of the conversation. He must have still been having trouble registering Kara's new look. "I don't need anyone to look after me."

The Sandaime stared her down. "There's a fine line between independence and ignorance young lady."

"And I walk it consciously, sir." Her wit was not as dulled as the color of her eyes.

With a resigned sigh, the Hokage nodded in forfeit. "You're in luck. My former student isn't usually in town, but he just so happens to be in the eastern forest, just outside the village limits. He goes by the name of Jiraiya. Feel free to ask for his assistance."

"Thank you, sir." Kara stood and bowed respectfully before turning to leave.

"And Kara…"

"Yes, sir?" She looked back at the old man.

He began his paperwork again. "He's going to say 'No'."

The young teenager pondered the statement for a moment. "We'll see." was her simple reply.

--

"It's a tadpole, Naruto!" The great, white-haired man named Jiraiya shouted.

Naruto was adamant about his claim to have finally gotten the Toad Summon mastered. "But it's got back legs! Look! Look!"

"For the last time… It's still got a tail. It's a tadpole! Go back and try again. And don't bother me until you've summoned an actual toad! I've got research to take care of!" Jiraiya rushed off into a little inlet of bushes overlooking a natural forest spring inhabited by perky twenty-something year olds. "Ooooh!" He whispered to himself. "That's it my little honey bears. It's such a hot day. It makes sense to frolic in the cool mountain water… hehehe..."

"…wow. And here I thought I had lost all my innocence weeks ago. Thanks." A dry, sarcastic and female voice spoke to the significantly older man crouching in the bushes.

"Huh?" Jiraiya turned around to see a young girl leaned back against an oak tree. "Uh, if you don't mind I'm busy here doing things that you wouldn't understand, little girl. Why don't you just run along?" He raised his hand and waved to shoo her away.

The girl acted as though she didn't hear him speak. "You're Jiraiya, right? Sarutobi-sama's old student?"

He stared at her harder. "Sorry, do I know you from somewhere? You've got a look about you."

"… no." She internally winced at the all too familiar question. Everywhere she ever went, people seemed to recognize her because they had met her uncle before. "I've just got one of those faces, that's all. Now, if you don't mind answering my question. Are you Jiraiya?"

"Why yes… yes I am. But that's The Great Toad Sage, Jiraiya-sama to a pipsqueak like you, missy. Who the heck are you and why are you interrupting the mid-afternoon swim?" He pointed out at the barely legal gathering of young village maidens whose line of sight and range of hearing were unnaturally poor.

"My name is Kara." The girl introduced herself. "And to be frank, I'd like you to show me a jutsu that you invented a long time ago… Jiraiya-sama." She lightened her tone of voice and tried to play nice in hopes that he wouldn't be as stubborn as the Hokage had warned her he would be.

He chuckled at her request and waved her off again. "Go on and get out of here kid. One student at a time is way more than enough for me."

But Kara wasn't taking no for an answer. "I don't want to be your student. I just want you to show me how to perform the jutsu. I can master it by myself after that."

"Hmm… well, when you put it that way." Jiraiya rubbed his chin mockingly. "Tch. It's still a 'No'. Now scram. You're distracting me from my research."

Kara could now tell that the man was actually worse than what she had expected. "If that's how you feel…" She marched through the bushes and made her way down to the bikini-clad women. "Excuse me ladies… but I think it's only my duty as a fellow member of the female gender to let ya'll know that there's a very lonely and very perverse old man spying on you from up there." She pointed to Jiraiya's exact spot behind the bushes.

_Ack! What is wrong with that girl?!_ The sannin sat there, fuming over his loss. _This was one of my favorite spots in Konoha! It'll be weeks before the girls won't suspect someone is here now! Why that no-good, irritating, buzz-killing, party-wrecking little brat!_

The young women quickly dispersed and Kara made her way back up to where she had left Jiraiya. "Do you think what you did is funny?!" The old man snapped at her. "Do you have any idea how long it takes for me to establish reliable viewing locations?!"

"No. But I know how long it would take for you to show me the jutsu I want to learn." Kara didn't make the slightest attempt at wiping the smirk off her face.

"No means NO!" The old, indignant shinobi stood up, hoping his towering height would intimidate the five foot one girl.

Kara crossed her arms and stared up at the giant of a man. "I've had enough negotiations. Here's my ultimatum, Jiraiya-sama." The honorific was glistening with sarcasm. "I will make it impossible for you to spy on women until you show me the jutsu I want to learn. Simple as that."

"You don't have it in you." He refused to be shown up by a child.

She raised an eyebrow questioningly at his statement. "You're talking to a former bioterrorist. There's nothing I'm not capable of. Don't believe me? Go ask the Hokage. He'll vouch for me."

"You're joking, right?" The sannin tentatively took a step back, but kept his imposing, low voice. She shook her head back and forth.

"I'm a lot more dangerous than I look, I assure you."

Jiraiya considered his options. Clearly, the girl meant business and even though she posed no threat to him whatsoever, to have her constantly stalking him, ruining all the free 'research' time that training Naruto afforded him, would not be worth defending his right to not teach her on principal alone. He would surrender to her demand, if only to ensure the security of his prime peeping territory. "What do you want to learn, Ms. Kara?" He sighed with an overly dramatic deep breath.

* * *

**I love my Jiraiya. Didn't ya'll? The ninjutsu he teaches her will be revealed in the next chapter during the final third exam. It's actually a technique that I didn't make up. It exists in the canon storyline, but it's not all that well known.**

**Alright… so… there's a bit of explanation that I want/feel I need to explain. The difference between Chidori and Raikiri. (Believe me. It's relevant to my story.) Chidori is the base jutsu; it's like a ball of lightning in your hand that can bust through stuff. Raikiri (Lightning Blade) is a derivative of Chidori; the whole arm turns into a concentrated 'blade' of lightning that cuts through the target you're running at. **

**Kara has mastered Chidori. She will never learn Raikiri because the speed needed to effectively use the jutsu would leave her way too vulnerable; tunnel vision. (She doesn't have Sharingan nor will she ever attain it… sure, I've done my due diligence and considered how she could get it. But no. Just no.) **

**Instead, as we have seen here in this chapter, she is capable of developing alternatives such as Tanebiatemi (Spark Strike) and Akerakuri (Crimson Thunderbolt: the finisher that she didn't quite get to use. Thanks Gai! 'said sarcastically'). She is still fast, just not "using Raikiri" kind of fast. She also doesn't charge the target. She gets up in their face and engages in close quarters combat. Gai is unbelievably proud and slightly unnerved… he told me so. :P**

**(Brownie points to whoever can spot the Abbot and Costello reference in the chapter!)**

**Review! Really. I know there's a bunch of ya'll who have this story on alert/fav. I care about your opinions both positive and negative. I want to entertain just as much as I want to improve and the only way I can effectively accomplish either of those tasks is if ya'll tell me how I'm doing!**


	15. Amethyst

**Before ya'll complain and tell me how cliché it is for there to be a festival, that's too damn bad. I wanted Kara and Sasuke to have a 'moment', I wanted it to be before the final exam and I wanted it to be cute (though, in the next paragraph that becomes debatable). Based on that criterion, I got 'festival'… deal with it.**

**I wrote some romance… or at least something theoretically romantic. (As romantic as Kara and Sasuke can reasonably get at this point) Forgive me if it's lame, dumb or just plain freaky. I was out late (bad idea) and then I drank an energy drink so I'd stay awake even later (worse idea) and while listening to some really trippy ambient music I wrote that part out at 3:45 in the morning. The scene was just there on my computer screen when the sun came up and I finally came out of my (stupid, albeit legal) daze. I deemed it post-worthy but (again) forgive me if it sounds too… profound/weird. I can't help the dramatic nature of my writing at times. It's just my style.

* * *

**

Chapter 15: Amethyst

Celebrations were in full swing on the night before the final exam. The entire village was partying and rejoicing. It was the custom ever year for there to be one massive festival just as the envoys of feudal lords, with pockets full of money to spend, arrived. You gotta love a capitalist economy.

The Hyuuga clan was celebrating in a more refined manner at their private estate. A half dozen officials fancied themselves better than the rest as they were especially invited to dine among Konoha's most prestigious family. Hyuuga Hiashi stood casually in a dining room with several other men discussing whatever subjects crossed their minds.

"Hiashi-san," A high ranking commerce chief began a bit too informally, "Are you a betting man?"

"It's not a habit of mine. Why do you ask?" He let the lack of respect from the man slide in the interest of keeping the room peaceful.

"Well, tomorrow is the exams of course!" The man chuckled deeply. The fine spirits of the party had gone to his head. "I can't help but be curious as to whether you might know something that could… oh, I don't know… be of some particular interest to some of us here." He nudged some of his compatriots in the arms. A few grinned in reply. Though they were not drunk enough to dare suggest the idea, they were all more than eager to possibly gain some insider information on the next day's battles. Rich men have nothing better to do to pass the time than wager on such exhibitionist fights.

Hiashi took a deep breath. This was the first time he had invited the man into his home and it would definitely be the last. "I'm afraid that I have not been too involved with any of the finalists this year."

"Ah, nonsense!" The cheery fellow reached out to push the Hyuuga in the arm. Luckily one of his friends held him back. "The one… the boy… ah, what's his name again?" He griped the arm of another man. "You have a roster for tomorrow, don't you? Pull it out." The chief turned back to Hiashi. "One of yours is in the finals." A schedule for the next day's final was pushed into his hand. "Ah! Here it is… yes! Hyuuga Neji. Oh and his teammate Harada Kara, what do you know about her?"

"Neji is of the branch family. My involvement with him is minimal. As for the girl, I've only met her once before. She was polite." Hiashi spoke with utmost political correctness. "Whatever results tomorrow's events may bring will be as unknown to me as they are to you." He extended his arm and gestured for the men to head outdoors. "I believe it is almost time for the fireworks display, gentlemen. We'll have a better view from the courtyard."

The boy in question was sitting just off to the side; out of their sight, but they not out of his. He watched the men adjourn outdoors with much distaste. "Hn… fools." Neji hissed under his breath before heading to his bedroom for an early bedtime. He wanted his rest for the coming day's events. _I wonder if Kara will show up tomorrow. Even if she did, it's doubtful she'd make it to the third round and end up facing me. _The possibility of having to fight her crossed his mind for the first time in the past month. He quickly pushed it aside. _No… she'll never make it that far._

"Aw, come on Sakura. Cheer up would you?" Ino pulled her down the street on their way to a restaurant. The two girls wanted to eat something before the fireworks started. "The world hasn't ended!"

Sakura shook her head in an attempt to push the depressing and worrisome thoughts out of her head. Like many girls her age, she took things personally and all the issues with Naruto, Sasuke and Lee had been weighing heavily upon her. "Yea… I know. You're right. It's a party. I should be happy." She forced a smile and kept up with the girl on her own.

Above all the hustle and bustle at street level was Kara. She was lying out on a rooftop enjoying the cool night air, patiently waiting for the end of festival fireworks show. Slowly, a shadow blocked her moonlight. _Ugh… really? Do I look like I want to be bothered?_

"What are you doing up here?" A slightly less than foreign voice demanded an answer of her.

Kara huffed and began the argument without bothering to see who had chosen to disturb her otherwise uneventful evening. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Looks like you're being lazy." The shadow shrunk and sat down beside her. "But that's nothing new."

Her head lolled to the side to find an oddly pleasant surprise. "Hn… Do you realize I never know how to start a proper conversation with you, Sasuke?"

He must have been in a talkative mood. "I suppose that's fair. I never know whether to ask you questions point blank or make the effort of easing into it."

Previously absent curiosity crossed Kara's features. "What did you want to ask me?" The boy's onyx eyes drifted away in silence. That was enough to clue Kara in on what he wanted to talk about. "Tch…" She propped herself up onto her elbows and glared at a string of hanging lanterns across the street. "I should have figured as much." _He's been training with 'him' for the past month. It makes sense that my 'situation' would have come up._

"Well?" It seemed that Sasuke still expected an answer.

"Well, what?" Kara certainly wasn't in the mood to give it.

He kicked his legs out and leaned back, mimicking her posture. "You're related to Kakashi-sensei."

Kara growled, "That wasn't a question."

A bit uncertain but unwilling to walk away from the 'riveting' conversation, Sasuke complied and asked a proper question. "Did you really not know?"

Kara had spent the past month rolling that question over and over again in her mind. She used it as a training tool, one of Gai's especial design. Whenever she tried to complete the jutsu Jiraiya had so kindly shown her, and failed, she would ask herself that very same question as a type of penance. _Did I really not know?_ Unfortunately, the jutsu wasn't the easiest to master and she had asked herself too many times. Four hundred and fifty two, to be exact. As it turns out, it's enough times to drain out a lot of anger and frustration. Her response was tired and plain. "Yea… I was completely blindsided."

_So cold. I didn't know Kara was capable of being this way. _Sasuke tentatively adjusted himself where he reclined. _Kakashi was right. I should have stayed with him and kept training for tomorrow instead of coming down here for the festival._

The uncomfortable silence that followed wasn't what Kara had wanted to fill her evening with. She sighed awkwardly. Then it dawned on her. _He's the first person to strike up a real discussion with me in the past month. …typical. Sasuke would be immune to my aura as it is right now, wouldn't he?_ As strange as it may seem, the thought comforted her. She had wanted some conversation and now the only person in the village who may be capable of it with her had just appeared out of nowhere. She shot him a sidelong glance. "As much as I blame him… I blame you too."

"Huh?" Sasuke recoiled from the perceived attack._ What's that supposed to mean?_

Kara snickered, playfully and skillfully drawing him further into the discussion. "If I hadn't been looking to see if you were okay, I may well have never found out about my relation to… you know." Despite her improved mood, she still couldn't bring herself to say his name.

"How in the hell is it my fault that you were concerned about me?" It took Sasuke a second to realize she wasn't attacking him. "…wait… You were concerned about me?"

_Uhh… ummm… whoa…_ Hearing it pointed out to her like that threw her for a loop. Kara hadn't really noticed how much his well-being seemed to matter to her. She quickly recovered. "Hn… yea. Speaking of which, how's that 'snake bite' of yours doing?"

Sasuke raised his hand automatically and held the mark on his neck. "Fine.", he mumbled and looked away from her. It wasn't a good topic for him.

"Good…" Kara sighed again. She hadn't meant to shut him down like that. She had just wanted to draw away from her own issues for a moment. "So… learn any new tricks for the finals?" She forced her old, bright smile out to drag him out of the hole he seemed to be slipping into.

"Hn." The boy smirked and whipped his head back around to face her, catching her deep blue eyes about five inches too close for his comfort zone. _…!_ Shock aside, he didn't pull back. It was his personal space that he perceived she was invading, not the other way around. Why should he have to move? "Actually, yes." _Oh, but wait. You've already learned it, haven't you?_ His expression of haughty overconfidence glazed over into a mock scowl. "But it's nothing you haven't seen before." Kara raised an eyebrow. "Sensei tells me you basically went on a rampage during the prelims. Heh, shame I missed it. I would have paid to have seen that." He chuckled and fell back with his left arm behind his head, staring up at the stars.

Kara's eyes stayed squinted in irritation, but she too saw the humor and couldn't let it go unappreciated. She fell back with her right arm behind her head and watched the night sky with him. "Yea, well. It wasn't my best moment." A few more seconds passed before the discussion continued. "What did you mean, 'nothing I haven't seen before'?"

Sasuke raised his right arm from its resting place beside Kara's left and calmly took a few moments to build the necessary chakra. A small blue-white Chidori flickered to life in the palm of his hand. He watched Kara hide a small smile out of the corner of his eye. _Heh… knew it! She's impressed! …er-I mean, she's jealous. Yeah… I wanted to make her jealous and she is now._

Not to be outdone, the young girl raised her left fist and showed off her own small version of Chidori. The red sparks flickered and flared like a thin veil under a crimson strobe light. They appeared to react particularly violently with the pale blue flashing less than two inches away. "…would ya' look at that…" Kara whispered, completely enthralled by the peculiar reaction taking place.

Shards of amethyst-tinted lightning seemed to materialize, burst and fizzle away every time one of Sasuke's cerulean sparks collided with one of Kara's scarlet flashes. Each explosion caused their jutsu to grow in size and brightness. The effect elicited a silent, though shared, 'wow' from both teenagers, lighting up the immediate space around them with the curious new color.

A shrill whistle followed by a deafening 'POP' broke in the sky above them. The fireworks show had begun, but neither one of them seemed to notice as explosion after explosion occurred in the sky above them. Their eyes were focused on the comparatively smaller, more terrestrial illustration coming from their hands.

Slowly Kara opened her fist. The ruby glow of her Chidori grew darker. An open palm concentrated Kara's Spark Strike into something reminiscent of Raikiri, which she named Akerakuri. Sasuke focused more on his own to match her intensity and strength. Without verbal communication, the two of them arrived at the same question. _What would happen…?_

Kara moved her hand first, aligning it so that her fingers didn't touch his, but instead hovered just before them. The repulsion between the two opposing forces was instantaneous. The Chidori was a gun; you don't put two loaded ones barrel to barrel. However, neither one flinched when, without indication nor hesitation, Sasuke grabbed her hand. In that instant, Kara's red sparks curled around their knuckles as Sasuke's blue lightning crackled between their palms. They could feel each other's chakra, like two batteries plugged into the same circuit. But the power was too much, too unstable to maintain for longer than that instant. A sharp burn cut into Kara's palm; likewise along Sasuke's knuckles. They each jerked their hands back, sitting up in the process and defensively glaring at the other as though the damage done had been intentional.

"I'm sorry…" Kara's soft voice shattered the eerie silence that followed the strange incident.

"Me too." Sasuke turned and stood apart from her. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kara."

As always, her head snapped up to attention when he said her name. It must have had something to do with the way he pronounced it. "Tomorrow." She nodded, too shell-shocked to offer a kind smile.

He left, dashing over rooftops, headed towards the cliffs at the southern edge of the village. _What the hell was that?_ The Uchiha stopped running after he was sure he was out of Kara's range of sight. _Seriously. That… that was unbelievable. _He looked down at his right hand and the flurry of tiny scratches Kara's Chidori had left on his knuckles. The searing pain he had felt in that instant had completely disappeared and he was a bit surprised that the damage wasn't much worse. He'd spent the last month perfecting this deadly technique and had seen what it was capable of. _Amazing…_

Kara sat very still on the rooftop, almost afraid to look at the palm of her left hand. The stabbing burn she had experienced just moments before was but a distant memory. Her hand felt fine, but she wasn't sure if it would look okay. Maybe the sheer power of the jutsu had obliterated the nerve endings in her hand and she just couldn't feel the damage. _Aw, screw it._ She opened her fist and looked at it with a snort of faux indifference. _Holy…!_ An array of extra lines, ones that anyone who didn't know the natural lines of her palm wouldn't notice graced her inner hand. _What the hell just happened?_

A sprinkling of golden morning sunshine danced across Kara's shut eyes, waking her up about two hours sooner than she would have to in order to arrive at the stadium for the finals on time. "Ugggh…" She grumbled and rolled over to avoid the light particles, but the damage had been done. She was awake and had less than a fifty percent chance of falling back asleep in the next hour to make it worth her while. The sunshine she managed to evade for the time being now illuminated her nightstand and the still untouched letter from a month ago.

"…" Kara's hand managed to claw its way out from under her cocoon of covers to clean her open eyes of sleep crumbs. Still staring at the piece of paper, she took a deep breath and sighed. "I suppose it's time I saw them." Kara buried her head in her pillow one last time before getting up and getting dressed for the day. Assuming she wouldn't have time to come back home before the finals, she was sure to fill her pockets with the basic weapons she would need.

Without looking in the mirror to make sure she looked exactly as she thought she did, Kara left her apartment and slowly walked to the outer limits of the village. When she finally arrived at her destination, there was a sentinel keeping watch that greeted her.

"K-Kara!" Guruko shouted out in surprise as he bounded off the front porch and leapt into her arms. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" He kept squirming around trying to lick her everywhere at once. His ruckus drew the attention of the other dogs and they all came rushing outside to greet her. In fact, they were all in such a rush that they knocked her down to the ground and laid down on her legs and torso, ensuring that she couldn't escape. "I thought you would never see me ever again!" Guruko, who had chosen to occupy the space of her chest, snuggled against her neck. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you! Kakashi wouldn't let us! I'm so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?"

The sudden rush of affection and mild claustrophobia forced a smile to Kara's face. "There's nothing to forgive guys." She wrapped one arm around Guruko and the other patted Bull, who, in being the largest, decided to sprawl out across her midsection.

Guruko finally calmed down some and stared at her sweetly. "You got prettier." His cheeks would have been blushing, if a dog could blush.

"Nah, it's just the new clothes. I haven't really changed." Kara chuckled nonchalantly.

Pakkun, the only one of the dogs that didn't take part in tackling her to the ground, walked up and sat down next to her head. "No, you did. You're an inch taller than you were the last time we saw you."

Kara stared up at the pug quietly. "Hello Pakkun." Something about the dog's demeanor told her to keep her voice low-key.

He spoke to her briefly. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't you be mean to her!" Guruko snapped at the higher ranking canine.

"I'm not being mean." The dog snapped back, putting the young pup, if only for the moment, back in his place. "I just want to know what she's doing here."

The girl tilted her head up and pecked Guruko on the cheek. "I came here to see ya'll." The puppy swooned and again snuggled against the crook of her neck. A few of the other dogs yelped happily in a positive response to her statement.

"What about Kakashi?" Pakkun looked down at her with an inquisitive glare.

She hesitated for a moment. "What about him?"

"You didn't think he'd be here, or what?"

_I wasn't thinking about him when I decided to come here. I really just wanted to see you guys. Now that I think about it, he's probably not here. Yeah, he would have come out to see me if he was._ "I think I assumed he would be with Sasuke and not here. Besides, I was looking for ya'll… not him." _If he was here… well, I'm just glad he's not. I'm not ready to speak to him just yet._

Pakkun snarled involuntarily at the mention of Sasuke. "Yeah, you're right. He's off with that emo brat. Some last minute training and wardrobe changes for the finals." He scratched his ear irritably. "You know he taught that kid the Chidori?" Kara nodded, thinking back to the night before and its strange ending. The other dogs barked and snarled as well. They apparently didn't like the idea of Sasuke learning the jutsu. "Tch… Stupid Kakashi. Giving out family secrets like they were on sale."

Even though it wasn't her favorite topic, Kara couldn't help but dispute Pakkun's comment. "Family secrets? Didn't he invent it himself? How is that a family secret?"

"Well, I assumed that after he taught you, it would stay in the family." He answered in a snarky fashion.

Kara pouted and perpetuated the discussion with a solemn tone. "He showed it to me. I really taught myself."

For some reason this made the pug happy. "You did teach yourself, didn't you? Ha! I guess that's the difference between an Uchiha and a Hatake. A real Hatake doesn't need any help. They're natural geniuses that don't need someone to hold their hand!" He and the other dogs chuckled. They really didn't like Sasuke.

However, Kara failed to see the humor in his comments. "I'm not a Hatake, Pakkun-kun."

Her cold reply shook the pack. "That's a load of bull!" Pakkun barked at her despite their close proximity. "… no offense, Bull." The largest dog growled and huffed, not taking any. "You are a Hatake, Kara!"

"Just cause you say that, doesn't make it true." Kara was contemplating leaving. It was more than likely that she could lift the combined weight of all the dogs and easily walk away. "It's not enough."

Guruko was on the verge of going 'lalalalalalalala' to drown out Kara's negative sentiments. He whimpered.

"Not enough? Not enough!" Pakkun pressed one of his paws on her cheek and stared down into her eyes. "You've got the blood in your veins as proof enough!" Kara's half closed eyes reflected the 'closed' state of mind she was in. Afraid that he wasn't getting his point across, he took a deep breath and did his best to soften his voice. "I'm older than I look and I remember all the other Hatake clan members that used to be with us and let me tell you… you're one of 'em. I mean, the silver hair, the blue eyes and fair skin… and that's just genetically speaking."

"Pakkun-" Kara attempted to interrupt him to no avail.

"There's something so much more. You've got this glow that makes people like you. You brighten a room even if you're not trying to. But most importantly, every true pure-blooded Hatake that I've ever known has this almost aberrant self-confidence. That's what makes them natural born geniuses! More than any other kind of human I've ever come across, they're the ones that believe in their ability to grow… to do anything they set their minds to!" He was conveniently forgetting about all the family tragedy that had befallen the clan, resulting in there being only two surviving members, and the pivotal role that 'self-loathing' and 'despair' had played in it. It was a necessary omission for his pep-talk to make sense.

Kara stared off into empty space. "I'm not that sure of myself, Pakkun."

He scratched her cheek causing her to snap back to ground level where he was. "That's because you're so preoccupied with fitting in with the crowd." He snorted and the puff of air was enough to move a lock of her black hair across her face. "You need to stop denying who you are and stand out! Embrace your heritage! You're a Hatake and you should be damn proud of it!" All the other dogs sprouted off of her and began barking in solidarity with Pakkun and his speech.

…_maybe I would be if I hadn't been disowned before I was born; _the negative side of her conscience was cooing cruelly in her ear. She slowly sat up, brushing Pakkun's paw off to the side. With a sigh, she dusted off her shirt and pants of dog hair. _He means well. _The barking stopped and all the dogs stared at her silently. Kara cleared her throat awkwardly. The moment required some amount of epiphany; an amount that Kara wasn't currently capable of achieving. "Whelp… ummm, that was a nice little talk." She stood up, trying to ignore the dropping jaws at her lack of enthusiasm. "But I best be headed off to the stadium now… It was nice seeing ya'll. I'll try not to be away for such a long time again…" Her weak smile received a limited response. "Bye…?"

Guruko shuffled forward and nudged her ankle. "I know you don't believe in what Pakkun said just yet, but I know you will eventually. Just promise you'll be careful during the finals? I've got a bad feeling in my stomach."

_Oddly enough, I've got a bad feeling too._ Kara knelt down and patted him on the head. "Don't worry. I can take care of myself." He nodded and licked her hand before she stood and walked away from the pack. Once she was out of earshot, he turned to Pakkun. "Hey…"

"Hn?" He was a bit put-off at the girl's inability to be convinced by his speech.

"Did you notice her hair?"

The pug grinned momentarily. "Yeah."

"Just head straight on inside, Ms. Harada." One of the guards at the main gate of the arena ushered her through the large wooden doors. "Most of the other applicants have already arrived."

Kara nodded and kept her slow, gradual pace. The closer she had gotten to the stadium, the more and more she came to realize that she really wasn't in the 'fighting' mood. That, of course, shouldn't be confused with the fact that she could and would fight, but she certainly wasn't going to go charging into the arena floor. The sun flashed brilliantly, blinding her momentarily, as she walked into the main site. As her eyes adjusted, she could see the small gathering of finalists before her. The two Sand ninja glared daggers at her as she walked past and made her way toward the Leaf ninja. Obviously, the two were pissed that their blonde compatriot was not with them. She was, however, up in the stands with their Jounin sensei, patiently keeping to themselves.

Neji called out to Kara. "I can't believe you actually showed up."

"Why wouldn't I? I won my match during the prelims." She stood apart from the main group with her hands stuffed down her pockets. "I'm supposed to be here."

"That's not what I meant." Neji's arms remained crossed. "You could have just not shown up and forfeit. Now that you're here, you're bound to run across Kakashi-san."

Kara's eye twitched involuntarily with irritation. "You certainly know how to pick a good topic, Neji-kun. Tell me… how's life inside the cage treating you?" She whistled like a small bird before giggling to herself. _You wanna mess with me, jackass? Don't forget that I know things about you too._ Even her jokes had taken on a sharper edge.

He slowly let his arms drop as he took a threatening step forward. "Cut it out." The proctor grumbled. "You'll all get the opportunity to tear each other's heads off in a bit. Till then, behave yourselves."

Kara looked at the proctor and then up at the stands, high above them. She couldn't make out any individual faces, but the energy coming off of the crowd was magnetic.

"Am I late? Am I late?" Naruto came careening into the arena.

"Nah… you're fine." Kara shuffled in line with everyone else and stood still as the final exam was about to take place.

The midmorning sun drowned the battle arena with light, but not from where Kara currently stood. She was up in the applicant waiting area leaning against the corner wall watching the first fight between Neji and Naruto. _Come on, Naruto!_ She cheered silently in her mind. _Don't let that snob beat you!_

When Naruto's last shadow clone disappeared and he shot out of the ground, knocking Neji flat out, she couldn't help an involuntary twitch and a smile. _Yes! Ha! Why didn't I ever think of that? Neji always walks over and gloats about his triumph. I should have just played possum and then struck. Wow, Naruto… you really earned this victory._ She looked down the line of other applicants to judge their reactions.

She couldn't get a reading on the boy closest to her, Shino. Too much blocking his face, not that she would have guessed he had any emotion otherwise. Her scheduled opponent, Shikamaru, was shocked beyond belief. "I always thought Naruto was like me." He gaped.

"Like you?" Kara leaned against the railing to get a better angle on him.

"Uh, well yea. You know, unpopular and untalented." Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes. "Now look at him. He's got me beat."

Kara shook her head to toss a stray, jagged strand of her hair back. "Guess that's good news for me…" She mumbled more for her own satisfaction than for the conversation. _'Course, you could still be like him. Capable of pulling a win out of your ass. Then I'll be screwed. _"Speaking of the victor." The group looked over their shoulders to see Naruto walking up triumphantly.

"Hey guys! Did you see me?" The blonde grinned widely, full of pride. Kara and the other two Leaf boys nodded. Unfortunately for Naruto, they were not nearly as energetic as himself. "Aw, come on! How about some praise?"

"You were great Naruto." Kara complied and reached out and held his shoulder. "You did something that I haven't been able to do for the entire two years I've known that self-righteous bastard."

He laughed bashfully. "It was easy!"

_Heh… it was lucky. _Kara stuffed the jealousy she may or may not have felt at the moment away. She withdrew her hand and looked down at the empty arena. "So… what's the hold up?"

Shino answered her. "Sasuke's not here yet. I think they're going to disqualify him."

"That'd be a shame." _He told me he was going to see me today. Was it shallow of me to assume he meant here at the finals?_ Kara had grown tired of standing and chose to sit precariously atop the railing.

"What are you guys talking about? Of course Sasuke will come." Naruto settled his head on his arms on the railing next to Kara. The fact that she had decided to change her outfit to pants instead of a skirt made it a much more acceptable a position to be in. He glanced up at her. "Red's a good color for you, Kara-chan."

She looked down at her shirt. "Thanks, Naruto." He was actually the first person to compliment the new hue.

"But what did you do to your hair?" His voice had a disgusted quality to it.

"Huh?" Kara held her head defensively. "What's wrong with my hair?" Try as she might, she could only see the longer strands of black hair and didn't understand what issue Naruto had taken with it.

"Your roots… they're all gray like an old lady." He laughed at the situation, but of course it looked like he was laughing at her.

Shino and Shikamaru leaned in closer to look for themselves. "No, I'd say they're more silver than gray." The bug boy held his jacket sleeve up for color comparison. "It's lighter, see?"

Kara smacked the sleeve away and sneered at all three boys. They immediately backed off. _Damn it. I was so preoccupied this past month that I forgot to dye my hair again. I'll have to do it as soon as possible. God… how embarrassing!_

The proctor made the announcement that Sasuke would not be disqualified, but that his match was merely going to be postponed. "See? Told ya'll." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, that means you're up next Shino!"

The quiet boy stood attentive, ready to win his battle only to have the victory handed to him on a silver platter. "I forfeit." The hooded Sand ninja who was supposed to be his opponent raised his hand and bowed out of the finals.

Shino's eyebrows furrowed. "Aw, don't worry." Kara patted him on the shoulder. "It just means you get to fight a better opponent later on."

"Do you mean yourself?" He glanced between her and Shikamaru.

She laughed errantly. "Not intentionally, no." _I don't want to end up fighting any of these guys really. My main attack is a killer and I don't think I'm ready to take a life. It's much too much for something as trivial as an exam._

The proctor, who didn't seem to care much for who fought so long as there were two kids down there beating the crap out of each other for the amusement of a population, tapped his foot impatiently for the next competitors to get down to ground level.

"Uh, hey Shikamaru…" Kara rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly with her eyes squinted in a self-conscious smile. "Good luck."

He sighed and didn't look as though he had bought it. "Geez… talk about troublesome. Now you're gonna taunt me?"

"Huh? No, never!" She defended herself seriously. "I mean it. I'm not going to lose on purpose or anything, but really the only person I may have wanted to fight here was Neji and he's out already." Naruto gave a satisfied snort. "And I really don't want to make it all the way to the end and possibly face that Sand ninja over there." Kara nodded to Gaara at the opposite end of the waiting area. "So, good luck. I hope you can think of something other than your shadow jutsu to dispatch me with." She nodded sincerely and slid down the side of the arena wall to ground level.

"What do you mean, 'something other'?" He leaned over the railing after her. Naruto was kind enough to push him the rest of the way and send him to the floor at an express rate. "Ufff!" He hit with a thud, staring up at the blue sky.

Kara's eyes soon replaced the similarly colored sight. "Need a hand?" She snickered at his less than gracious entrance and offered her hand to help him to his feet.

"Aren't you my opponent here?" Her manners seemed out of place to him.

She rolled her eyes at him now. "We're only fighting because it's expected of us. I don't have anything against you. Come on." She shook her hand, encouraging him to take it.

With a sigh of defeat he accepted the help. Once on his feet, Kara dusted off his sleeve before walking away, past the proctor. "Alright. Ya'll know the rules. I don't feel like repeating them. Begin when ever ya'll are ready." The laid-back character signaled them to begin the match.

Tenzou stood dutifully at the Hokage's side as the second match began. He glanced at his watch, noting that Kara's match was starting much earlier than had been anticipated. Ninjas were always taught that things happening out of order was one of the preeminent signs that something bad was about to happen. "Sir?"

The Hokage didn't spare him a glance. He was too interested in seeing if Kara had in fact mastered Jiraiya's questionable jutsu. "Yes, Tenzou? What is it?" He answered back in a hushed tone.

"I think-"

"Then don't." The old man already anticipated his soldier's worries. "Just enjoy the match." _Assuming she managed to learn that jutsu, she'll most definitely have the advantage here._

Kara waited patiently for Shikamaru to make the first strike. He, of course, didn't. "Aw, come on man!" She finally shouted. "If you don't, I will!" He rolled his eyes and fell down into a sitting position on the ground. "… you have got to be kidding me." Kara hissed under her breath. She looked over at the proctor, who offered nothing but a shrug of his shoulders. "… Hey! You really ought to at least open your eyes for this so that you understand what you're up against!"

One of the boy's narrow eyes barely opened, acknowledgement enough for Kara. She began the necessary hand signs.

"What jutsu is that, sir?" Tenzou didn't recognize the pattern.

The Hokage chuckled lightly to himself. _She is as skilled as her genes would make her. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful._

"If you don't mind my asking, Lord Hokage," The Kazekage sitting beside him was also watching intently now. "What exactly should we be expecting from that child?" _Did I really let such potential go unnoticed?_

Unable to hide his pride for the young girl any longer, Sarutobi answered. "An A-Rank ninjutsu that hasn't been mastered by anyone new in over forty years. Toton Jutsu: Transparent Escape Technique."

Tenzou slowly spun around on his heel to look back at his Hokage. _I've heard of that, but I would have sworn…_ "Isn't that for perverts who spy on girls?"

The Hokage's eye twitched. _Can you say 'fired', Tenzou? Talk about inappropriate and in front of the Kazekage no less!_ He tried his best to cover for the ninja's careless words. "Where inspiration for a technique comes from makes no difference. What matters is its usefulness in other situations. I'd like to see how Shikamaru will cope being unable to paralyze a shadow-less opponent."

_Now you see me…_ Kara held the last kata and disappeared. _Now you don't. _She looked down and checked to make sure her shadow, along with the rest of her visage, had completely vanished. _Yes!_

The crowd erupted with gasps of awe. It was known that many Rock ninja were capable of semi-invisibility where one could see a blurred image similar to looking over a hot pit, but something as complete as Kara's jutsu was unheard of in this day and age. "Whoa…!" Naruto squinted his eyes in hopes of catching sight of the now invisible Kara. "Did you see that, Shino?"

"I think the idea is that we can't see her." The boy remained calm but mildly intrigued. "Even her shadow is gone."

_Well that complicates things._ Shikamaru stood back up in a defensive position. He closed his eyes and did his best to concentrate on his hearing now that his eyes were useless. Kara's movements were next to silent until she was about to strike. The force necessary required her to dig her foot into the ground just before a punch and for her unused leg to slide back before a kick. The Shadow-user's arm shot up and blocked it just in time. _That's odd. If she was using that electric punch that she did during the prelims, it shouldn't have mattered if I blocked it or not. Why isn't she using it? _

He continued to listen carefully. It was essentially a simple sparring match against an invisible foe. Kara was using him like a punching bag, only managing to land a few direct, unblocked hits that knocked him a bit off balance. She, consciously or not, was going easy on him.

_She's like heavy artillery with her Spark Strike. One solid hit and I'd likely be out. But she's not using it._ Shikamaru jumped up, avoiding a sweeping kick. All anyone saw was dirt swoosh underneath him. _Unless, she can't use it._ Only minutes into the match and Shikamaru had already discovered the one drawback to the Toton jutsu. Its user cannot combine it with any other jutsu. _Alright then. I just have to make it impossible for her to win without using another jutsu. Then she'll break this one and have a shadow again which I can catch with my Shadow Possession and the match will be over._

Shikamaru sprinted away from where he safely assumed Kara was and threw a handful of kunai at her position. Three of the five were deflected, in what looked, mid-air by an unseen knife. Anything that was already in Kara's possession when she activated the jutsu was also invisible.

_I wonder what he's gonna do now._ Kara paced herself. She knew she could hold the Toton jutsu for over an hour if need be, but to drag a match out that long would be irresponsible and unwise. _I'd return fire if only the second I let go of the weapons they didn't become visible again. _The boy threw more kunai in a fanned out pattern. Most of them missed by a mile. _What on earth is he doing? That's just wasteful. He can't really be that desperate so soon, can he?_ She began walking toward him, not caring much about the small crunching noises her footstep made this time.

The boy kept at it. In every direction, he threw kunai and shuriken. They stuck into the walls, the ground, and the single tree in the corner of the arena. Finally, it seemed he had run out of ammunition. _Done. Now to find her._ He moved again, much to Kara's dismay, and landed near the only tree in the arena.

_Ugh… quit moving would ya'? I'm trying to hit you._ Kara was about to dash after him only to pause and watch the boy raise his arm and pull down on something she didn't see. _Huh?_ The tree was almost instantly stripped of its leaves by several thin wires. Said leaves then swirled around in the air and swept through the arena in a great vortex caused by the naturally windy conditions of the funnel shaped stadium. _…no way. He can't be that clever._

Kara heard the cheers of the crowd before she fully realized what had happened. She looked down at herself to see more than a few dozen leaves stuck to her as the wind whipped by. Seen by everyone was half an invisible teenage girl, thanks to an outline of green foliage.

_Gotcha._ Shikamaru smirked and quickly pulled several different wires, effectively closing the trap. He had turned the entire arena into a spider's web of thin wires and with the right succession of pulls he could trap anyone in the vicinity. All he needed to know was where Kara stood. The wind was his tar and the leaves were the feathers.

Kara gasped as she found herself suddenly immobile. Wire kept her frozen in place like a forgotten puppet. _Wow! I totally did not see this coming!_ She was honestly more shocked at Shikamaru's ingenuity than the fact that she was facing defeat to such an otherwise dull individual.

"Tch…" Tenzou scratched his chin under his ANBU mask and sighed. "Sure glad I didn't bet any money on Kara for this one."

"Hush. The match isn't over yet." Sarutobi leaned forward in his seat.

Kara struggled for a few moments before coming to the sad conclusion that the only possible way out would be to use a burst of Chidori to snap her constraints. In theory, it should work. But she had never had the opportunity to test it. _Damn… and I'm in range of his Shadow Possession. But I don't have a choice. The proctor will call the match if I can't get free. Maybe I'll be fast enough to escape backwards… or I could try and charge him. He wouldn't expect that, would he? Crap, he might. I mean, he used leaves to see me and an intricate web to catch me. This guy is unbelievably smart. I don't stand a chance against him on intelligence alone. Looks like my only hope is to use what Gai-sensei taught me; brute force. Alright, enough thinking… 3, 2, 1, Now!_

Kara dropped the Toton jutsu and sent a burst of striking, red electricity out in a shockwave. The wires snapped and pieces fluttered all around her. _Whoa… didn't think that would work. …hehe, cool._

However, the short jolt of pride she felt at that moment due to her small triumph was all the delay Shikamaru needed. He dropped the severed ends of wire in his hands and struck out with his shadow; a direct hit.

The crowd squirmed with delight. Kara's brilliant flash shocked them while Shikamaru's curious victory stunned them.

"Game over, huh?" Kara snickered, not really caring that she had lost. "It was fun while it lasted."

"Sure… whatever." Shikamaru walked forward a few paces. The girl mimicked him step for step. "I forfeit." His shadow retracted, releasing Kara from her bonds.

Kara and just about every member of the audience were dumbfounded. "Huh? But you… I was… wait, what?"

"It means I give up." The Shadow-user shrugged his shoulders apathetically. "You hit really hard." He patted his chest where Kara had punched him once. "I'm about out of juice and I really didn't wanna get hit again. This way, you win without having to break my nose or something."

"Weird freaking kids, man…" The proctor mumbled before officially calling the match. "The winner is Harada Kara!" After a moment of hesitation, the crowd applauded.

Kara continued to stand there with a stupid look on her face. "Smile, you won." Shikamaru walked past her on his way back to the waiting area.

She reached up and pulled a dry leaf that was still stuck in her hair free. "I would if I didn't feel like such a loser." The little leaf was swept up into the air by a sudden strong gust before it had the chance to hit the ground. "What now?" Both she and Shikamaru raised their arms to shield their faces from the flurry of vegetation.

-To Be Continued-

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**Yea, a two-parter. It was getting too lengthy and I just had to cut it off. Sorry that this Chunnin Exam Arc seems to be taking so long. I really didn't mean for it be. (Kara's Arc will be way longer, I promise/threaten) Anyways, next chapter will pick up right where this one left off.**

**Guess what I got! Fan-Art for Kara! Woo! Check it out, link is on my profile. It's a fantastic drawing of Kara from Chapter 14 when it hits her that Kakashi is her uncle. Thanks Shyion!**

**The 'Transparency Jutsu: Toton (no) Jutsu' is mentioned in manga chapter 139. Supposedly, Jiraiya uses it to spy on girls and, since he left the village to travel, to spy on Akatsuki. So it's got multiple uses. Can ya'll imagine just how badass Kara will be when she gets older?**


	16. Kubikiri

**Remember, this chapter picks up right where the last one left off. FYI: "Kubikiri" means something along the lines of "Decapitation"**

**Hn. For once in my life, I don't have a paragraph of A/N to write here. Beyond weird…**

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Chapter 16: Kubikiri

The loose leaves in the arena swirled around in a small vortex of wind; a common transportation jutsu for a Leaf ninja. The mini-tornado quickly dissipated to reveal Kakashi and Sasuke standing there like a couple of, as Gai would say, 'cool guys'.

Kara turned away, not ready or willing to make a comment. She didn't notice Sasuke approach her and Shikamaru.

"So sorry we're late. So, um… did Sasuke lose by forfeit?" Kakashi rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"Actually, no." The proctor chuckled. "His match was postponed until just now."

Since Kara wasn't looking at him, Sasuke asked Shikamaru, "So?"

"What?" The lazy boy's eyes narrowed.

"I think he wants to know which one of us won." Kara grumbled almost inaudibly, shoving her hands back into her pockets. She felt the hard stares of the two boys on her. "Yeah, fine, whatever, I won… by default."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "So what? I forfeited, but you weren't exactly giving it your all either."

Kara shot him a glare. "Sorry. I wasn't in a bloodthirsty mood back then. You'd think you'd be more grateful." The boy raised his hands defensively, not wanting to catch anymore of her suddenly brutish attitude. "Better late than never, I guess." She mumbled over her shoulder at Sasuke.

"Heh, well you know Kakashi." He purposely said the man's name to test what kind of reaction it would warrant out of Kara. It wasn't good. She suppressed a sneer and continued to face away from the group.

_Please God, I want out of here!_ Kara cleared her throat and made with the small talk. "How's your hand?" She muttered.

"Fine." The boy tightened his fist reflexively. "How's yours?" He reached out and grazed her arm, wanting her to show him her hand.

She didn't budge. "Fine."

Shikamaru watched the strange exchange between the two. _How boring. I almost wish Naruto would show up and make things interesting again… almost._

Kara could feel everyone's eyes on her and it wasn't a good feeling. _Why are they looking at me?! Why?! I should just turn invisible again!_ "Good luck…" She whispered to the Uchiha as she reached out and grabbed Shikamaru. "You'll need it." Kara dragged the shadow-user out of the arena with her, leaving the proctor free to begin Sasuke's match. Once in the corridor that led back up to the waiting area, she let him go. "…sorry. I just didn't want to be there anymore."

"Yeah, I could tell." _But you didn't need to drag me out of there with you like a ragdoll._ Shikamaru straightened out his shirt and started walking ahead of her. "Aren't you coming?"

Kara leaned back against one of the cool stone walls along the staircase they were standing on. "Nah… I think I'll just wait here for a minute. I'll be up in a bit." She slid down into a sitting position.

_Whatever…_ He shrugged his shoulders and left her there in the dimly lit stairwell.

_That was so embarrassing. Why did I react like that? I thought I'd already come to terms with my 'situation'. Is it even possible to come to terms with something like 'disownment'? … ugh! It even feels awkward to say it like that in my mind. _She sighed and pulled her knees up under her chin. _What should I do?_

Not two minutes after Shikamaru had left her where she sat, an eerie and dark presence passed by her. Kara looked up to lock eyes with Gaara. They just stared at each other for a few moments. She felt like she was being judged or appraised and in the end was found 'unworthy'. The morose young boy continued on his way; out into the light of the arena and toward his awaiting opponent, Sasuke.

…_okay… yeah, I'm not going to think about how disturbing that was just now. I've got enough problems of my own._ Kara stood back up and slowly made her way back up to the waiting area. When she arrived at her destination, she found only Shino and the remaining Sand ninja on opposite ends of the balcony. "Hey." She stood next to the shady Leaf ninja. "Where'd Naruto and Shikamaru go?"

"It was kinda weird." Shino answered her while still watching Sasuke's match. The Uchiha was proving to be a fair match against the younger boy's sand. "That Gaara kid was talking to himself about 'killing' and that spooked Naruto for some reason. Then he rushed out, grabbing Shikamaru as he was just getting back here. He said something about having to stop the match."

Kara watched as Gaara created a sphere of sand around himself. "You're right. That does sound weird."

--

Kakashi walked up behind Gai and Lee just as Sasuke's match was starting. "Yo, Gai."

"Kakashi?" The seemingly friendly greeting caught him off guard. He asked warily, "What do you want?"

The silver-haired jonin rolled his only visible eye and sighed. "Did you see Kara's match?"

He shook his head back and forth. "Unfortunately, no. I only just arrived. I heard she won though." Gai was disappointed that he had missed the fight, but proud that at least one of his two finalists had progressed. "I know you have a knack for running late, but don't you think this is cutting it a bit close?" He was referring to Kakashi's and Sasuke's late arrival.

"Actually, I was hoping I had gotten him disqualified. There's something off about that Gaara kid. I don't like it." Kakashi looked around, counting the ANBU present. "Only eight for the whole stadium? Pretty light guard."

Gai nodded. "Yea, well. The Hokage wanted them dispersed evenly across the village. Believe it or not, there are people who don't attend these exams. There are a lot of defenseless civilians still going about their normal business outside and if something does go down they'll need help."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto rushed toward the two men from the stairwell behind the stadium seating. "You have to stop the match!" He let go of Shikamaru as soon as they came to a stop in front of Kakashi and Gai.

_What the hell is it with people and dragging me around like I'm some kind of accessory?!_ For the second time, Shikamaru straightened out his shirt. He stood there with a look of utter indifference and barely paid attention as Kakashi attempted to squelch Naruto's fears for Sasuke's safety.

"I promise you. He'll be fine. Just watch." Kakashi nodded toward the arena floor and left it at that.

--

Unbeknownst to Kara, her smile gradually grew as she watched Sasuke's match. He'd gotten faster, as fast as she was. He'd learned to activate Chidori without using hand signs, just like she had. _Wow… _

From behind shaded lenses, Shino watched Kara as attentively as he watched the match. "Why are you smiling?"

"Huh?" Kara reached up and covered her mouth reflexively. "Oh, I didn't realize…"

"I'd think you'd be more worried than happy. You might have to face him." The boy's monotone voice and Kara's inability to make direct eye contact with him flustered her to no end.

_Hn. I never seem to be thinking about things that people seem to think I should be thinking about."_What? I can't be happy for my friend?"

Any reply that Shino may have had was silenced along with every other sound in the stadium. Sasuke had broken through Gaara's Sand Sphere and was pulling back as a strange and fearsome looking appendage grasped his arm. "…the hell is that?" Kara whispered as she took a step forward, grabbing hold of the railing. While she stared, trying desperately to comprehend what was happening at ground level, a light rain of white feathers began to obstruct her view. "Huh?" Her eyesight blurred just before she passed out and slumped over the railing.

Shino noticed the genjutsu and dispelled it before it overpowered him as well. He quietly watched the remaining Sand ninja jump down to the arena floor and take a defensive position around Gaara with the blonde Sand ninja and their sensei. _What are they up to?_ The insect enthusiast paid close attention to the situation before deciding to follow the group as they made their retreat. He took a step and then paused, looking at Kara. _I guess I can't just leave her here like this._ He stood beside her and released the genjutsu.

"…ugh…" Kara pushed herself back up to a standing position. "…um, what uh… happened?"

"It was a mass genjutsu. We're under attack. I don't know much else." Shino was a bit short with her before disappearing himself.

"H-hey!" But he was already gone. "Under attack? From who? Why?" Kara thought about it for a moment. The memory of the secret meeting she had been privileged enough to listen in on came to mind. "…the snake man… Orochimaru?" The gravity of the situation slowly sunk in. She looked around, noticing the absence of Sasuke and Gaara from the stadium first. Her vision panned over to the audience and her eyes widened in astonishment. A small battle was being waged right over the heads of so many unconscious individuals. _I gotta snap out of it! I have to help somehow. It's my duty!_ She jumped off the balcony she stood on and made her way to higher ground. Inadvertently, she ended up next to a small gathering of ANBU, Tenzou among them.

"Kara!" He grabbed her by the shoulder in surprise. "You shouldn't be here." He hissed in her ear. "It's dangerous."

She instinctively grabbed his hand. "What's going on? Don't tell me that's what I think it is." Her arm shot out, pointing to the obvious giant ninjutsu barrier before them that covered the rooftop where the Hokage and Kazekage were supposed to be viewing the events of that afternoon.

Tenzou peeked under his mask at her to reveal his severely distressed features. "Depends. What do you think it is?" His words and appearance only served to upset the young girl more.

"Tenzou!" The commander of the platoon snapped at him. He whipped around to face the authoritative figure, holding Kara behind his back in an attempt to hide her presence. "Who is that?"

"Who is 'who', sir?" He didn't want to involve Kara in this fiasco. There were too many ways for her to get hurt. Too many ways for it to be his fault if she did get hurt.

"Now's not the time for you to be a smartass, soldier." The man growled and shoved Tenzou aside to reveal Kara. The girl didn't flinch. She just stared up at the commander, a default look of blank defiance plastered on her face. "Hn." He thought for a moment. _This is the little Hatake girl, isn't it? She can use Chidori… very useful._ "Can you fight?"

Kara's eyebrows shot up. _Is he serious? Wait… of course he's serious. This whole situation is serious, Kara!_ She yelled at herself in her thoughts. _Answer him, dammit!_ "Yes, sir."

"Good." He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face outside the stadium. "See that giant snake?" Kara nodded her head slowly, it took a few moments for her realize that she really was staring at a snake larger than a five story building. "Take it out."

Tenzou stepped forward. "Sir! She's just a genin. You can't--"

"Since when do you tell me what I can and cannot do, Tenzou-kun?" The commander mocked the feeble attempt of his subordinate to stop him from throwing Kara at the beast that was currently crushing buildings full of people. "What are you waiting for?" He bent down and whispered in Kara's ear. "Go."

"…yes, sir." Her years of training had finally reined in her adrenaline rush, focusing it to her advantage. Kara quickly left the stadium and charged toward the mammoth serpent.

"Tenzou." The commander got his soldier's attention again. "I want you to follow her and observe. Don't interfere. Just watch. Understood?" The ANBU operative nodded obediently and took off after the young girl. _This ought to be interesting. It's been a few years since we had a Hatake amongst our ranks. I wonder if this girl has any talent._

_How do I kill a giant snake?_ The question repeated itself over and over in Kara's mind as she made her way to the beast. _They're apex predators whose only real threat is a hawk. I don't think they make hawks big enough to tackle these guys. Oh boy… okay, just stay calm. Don't hold back. 'Take it out'. Just like he said._ _The village is at stake. I have to protect it._ She landed on the roof of a building adjacent to the serpent. _All or nothing, now or never._ Akerakuri flashed to life in the palm of her right hand.

The brilliant, rumbling red light caught the attention of the beast's serpentine eyes. It changed direction and shot out at her, fangs bared in a mouth wide enough to swallow a half dozen men whole. She hardly had to move. Just as it was bearing down on her, she gracefully jumped straight up into the air. The snake crashed into the roof, its fangs piercing through the tiles and the top floor. The taste of gutter refuse was probably the last thing its un-evolved brain registered.

What goes up must come down. And Kara came down hard. She led with her right hand, Akerakuri crackling and burning the very air around it. She struck right at the back of the beast's skull where it attaches to the many vertebra of the back, effectively decapitating the serpent. She kicked off the remnants of the snake to land on the opposite building. She glanced down at herself. Her entire right arm was covered in blood while the rest of her front had a pleasant splatter pattern of its own. _…ha. Yeah, I just did that._

It was an odd feeling for Kara. She was happy, proud even, that she had accomplished something so violent without it being a reaction to her emotions. Among the many, many other things that she had contemplated over the last month, her match with Temari had been of curious interest to her. Had she just been capable of so much strength in the heat of the moment? Or had she really grown and become proficient with such a powerful ninjutsu? Now she had her answer.

The tubular body of the serpent slumped down and lay still in the street while its head remained attached to the roof of the building Kara had been previously standing on. _Holy…!_ Tenzou was watching from a safe distance. _I can't believe that's the same Kara that nicknamed me 'Kitty'._ Satisfied that he had done as he was ordered to do, he returned to the stadium to await the results of the Sandaime's battle with Orochimaru.

Kara looked back at her handiwork. _Hehe…_ She couldn't hide her smile.

"Wow…" Kara spun back around to see Jiraiya standing atop a gargantuan toad. "And here I thought you were just some annoying little brat." She chuckled and attempted to wipe some of the blood off her arm. It only smeared around. "Why don't you hang back and let me handle the other two?" He pointed over his shoulder at the still rampaging siblings of the downed serpent. "I went to all the trouble of summoning this toad and you go and decapitate the damn thing before I get a chance to crush it."

"Be my guest, Jiraiya-sama." Kara grinned and bowed, her arm extended toward the other snakes; half mockery and half respect. She watched attentively as the Sannin proceeded to take care of the remaining threat.

It was a scream of terror that brought Kara back down from her high of accomplishment. She rushed to the edge of the roof she was on and looked down to find the source of the scream. What she found was pure chaos unfolding right before her eyes. The regions of the village where the snakes had plowed through were in a state of ruin and the inhabitants of those areas were panicked and in need of real help. Some were injured and many more were so scared that they were making the ordeal worse with their frantic actions. _Oh no… what should I do?_

--

A small crowd had gathered around the Sandaime's corpse. A deep feeling of loss enveloped them. Jiraiya was the last to join the group. He sighed and slowly shook his head back and forth. _You had a good run, sensei. I'm sorry to see you go._ He was also the first to speak up. "The Sand and Sound ninja have retreated. But there's still a lot that needs attending to."

The ANBU were the first to snap back to attention. Their commander supported the Sannin's words. "Our reports indicate that between 30 and 45 percent of the village has sustained some amount of structural damage. It's nowhere near as bad as it could have been." The man immediately regretted his choice of words. Several glares reached him. He lowered his head and took a step back.

"You're right, Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi straightened up. "There's a lot to be done still. We need to gather the wounded and get them to the hospital as quickly as we can. Someone needs to organize with the medics. We've probably already taken too long for some."

"Actually…" Jiraiya felt obligated to correct him. "That's already being handled." Slowly be surely, people in the small gathering were coming out of their grief over the Hokage's death and paying more attention to what was being said. "Gai, your student, Kara, has organized the hospital staff and already begun search and rescue operations in several of the collapsed structures throughout the village."

_She always was good at getting nurses to do what she wanted._ Kakashi ran a hand through his hair. If it was possible, he was more proud of her than he had ever been before.

A small smirk brightened Gai's otherwise depressed features. "I guess I better go help her then." He turned and pointed at a few ANBU just standing around. "You three, with me." They followed him dutifully.

Jiraiya began directing different individuals to different tasks. He gaze eventually fell on the Copy-ninja. "Kakashi.", he started.

"I think I should go find my students." The man turned away from the corpse on the ground and left in search of the three children.

_That's exactly what I was going to tell you to do._ The Toad Sage continued with his role as temporary leader and moved on to the next inactive soul.

--

Sasuke walked alongside his sensei on their way back to the village. Kakashi carried both Naruto and Sakura, one over each shoulder. Neither one of the two children were injured so severely that it was imperative that they get back to the village immediately. Plus it was easier to walk normally when carrying two people than run through the trees. The time it took them to get back was longer than usual, but they still managed to arrive before sunset. Not having to walk around to the main gates helped too. They just walked through one of the breaches in the village wall that was demolished by the giant snakes. "…whoa." Sasuke climbed up as high as he could to look over the destruction.

"Yup." Kakashi couldn't climb up with the boy to get a better look. Nor did he really want to. "There should be some impromptu medical tents set up around here. See any?"

"Yeah." Sasuke pointed to the southwest. "I think I see one about six blocks that way." He jumped back down and followed behind his teacher. "How bad is it really?" He asked after walking past two damaged streets full of rubble and people with minor injuries trying to help each other as best they could.

The jonin kept marching forward. _Better to tell him now, I guess._ "The village will be fine. It's just going to be rough for awhile. …the Hokage isn't with us anymore." He couldn't see the boy's reaction to the news, but assumed, accurately, that he would cope just fine. The two walked inside the emergency center and quickly found some empty beds for their unconscious teammates. A nurse took a brief analysis of their injuries and wrote their names down on a list to be seen by the next available doctor.

Sasuke looked around the large open area full of wounded people on cots. "Kara?" He spotted her lying on a cot six rows away from them. She wasn't moving and all he could see was that her entire right side was covered in drying blood.

"Huh?" Kakashi turned away from Naruto and Sakura and looked in the same direction as Sasuke. The second he caught sight of her, he rushed over to her side. Sasuke wasn't less than two steps behind him. They settled on either side of her. "Kara…" Kakashi leaned in and brushed some loose strands of hair away from her face and held her forehead.

"Relax." A roughed up looking Gai approached the boys. "She's just exhausted."

Sasuke idly picked a few flaking bits of dried blood off her arm and brushed them off on the ground.

"Why is she exhausted… and covered in blood?" Kakashi kept his voice low, not wanting to disturb the girl's rest.

"You'd be pretty tired too if you had spent the whole afternoon using Chidori, or Akera-whatever-she-calls-it, to behead a giant snake and bust through collapsed buildings to get to survivors." Gai stretched out his back. "Those cement slabs and steel girders can get pretty heavy after awhile. But you wouldn't know about any of that because you never do any actual work, do you?" He smirked jokingly.

_She killed a giant snake?_ Sasuke stared at her blood encrusted hand in mild awe. _There were giant snakes? I guess that explains the holes in the village walls._

Kakashi smiled under his mask. All he heard Gai say was that Kara had been amazing. Nothing else registered. Still looking at her, he asked Gai another question. "How many times did she use Akerakuri?"

"I don't know. A half dozen times maybe. They varied in size and strength. She never used more than she needed. You should have seen her." The Green Beast beamed with pride. "Calm, direct, selfless… she's a natural." He rubbed his neck tiredly. "Though, she did seem a bit upset with me when I first showed up to help her. She barely acknowledged I was there. And when she did, it was just to tell me to hold some support beam or something." He had talked himself into a faint sadness. "I'm afraid she's still pretty distraught over… things."

_If she's still mad at Gai, then odds are she's still not ready to forgive me. I shouldn't be here when she wakes up. I don't want to upset her. It's been a long day. I'm just glad she alright. …and she killed a giant snake summon. That's just cool. _Kakashi gently squeezed her shoulder and stood back up. "Yeah, I don't blame her." He glanced back down at her fondly. Kara's nose crinkled up in a sniffle as she slept. "I've got to go and find Jiraiya. I figure he'll want to know what's up with Naruto."

"Sure, sure. He's over that way, trapped between the elders and some platoon commanders." Gai nodded over his shoulder and moved to take Kakashi's place by Kara's side. It didn't feel right to leave Kara, even though she wasn't hurt or anything, but he did it anyway. He feared pushing her away even more by trying to talk to her before she was ready.

It took him a few minutes, but Gai eventually noticed Sasuke sitting on the opposite side of Kara, kind of just staring at her as she slept. "Ahem…" He coughed, clearing his throat in an attempt at getting the boy's attention.

"Hm?" He looked up at the man sitting across from him.

Gai leaned halfway across Kara and whispered. "What are you doing?"

Sasuke's mouth opened to answer; only he didn't have one. "I, uh…" He frowned. _I don't know what I'm doing here. But I don't want to leave either._ Gai was still staring at him, expecting an answer. The boy shrugged his shoulders.

"Just concerned for your friend then?" The man raised one of his bushy eyebrows.

"…yea. I guess so." Sasuke sequestered a small section of the cot by Kara's head and folded his arms there to support his head.

"Ah, well. That's nice." Gai leaned back where he sat and proceeded to otherwise ignore the boy. _He chooses to sit with Kara while his two injured teammates are laid up elsewhere. Ah, young love!_

Just as twilight was becoming night over Konoha, Kara stirred awake. Her right arm was itchy from the flaky coating of blood. She moved to scratch away the itch, but the unexpected sight of Sasuke asleep right by her head caused her to pause. "He's been there for about an hour." Gai's soft, indoor voice sounded out from the other side of the cot. Kara, careful not to disturb Sasuke's nap, sat up and looked at her sensei. "Feeling better?" She nodded and wiped some of the sleep from her eyes with her, relatively, clean left hand. "Good. I'm glad." Gai continued to stare at her like a needy puppy. "What you did today, Kara… you went above and beyond what anyone could have asked you to do. And I'm very, very proud to call you my student."

Kara continued to avoid direct eye contact with him. _I ignore him and treat him so poorly for the past month and he says he's proud of me? …what's wrong with this picture? Could it be the fact that I'm behaving like a spoiled, hateful little brat? _She sighed, "What happened with the Hokage? Did he kill Orochimaru?"

Gai stiffened up. "Kara… I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but the Hokage passed away."

She clenched her jaw, holding back the urge to argue that the Hokage couldn't be dead… he just couldn't be. But she knew Gai wouldn't lie to her about something like that. "…he took that snake with him, right?" She caught the movement of Gai shaking his head back and forth. Her chin fell down to her chest. _No…no, no, no, no, no._ "So he died for nothing?"

"Hm? No, no of course not!" He reached out and held her arm. "He may not have killed that traitor, but he made them retreat. He died protecting everyone."

Fatalistic thoughts and emotions flooded her system. _Anyone can die at any moment and then you lose them forever…_ She pulled her arm free from his grasp to wipe a few tears that managed to leak out of her eyes. "I'm sorry, sensei." Kara fell forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry I've been so cruel to you."

Instinctively, Gai returned the embrace ten-fold. "Shhhh… It's okay, bugaboo."

After a while, Kara pulled back and spoke regretfully. "I shouldn't have blamed you and I don't know what I would have done if I never had the chance to tell you how sorry I am for being so… so mean."

_She forgives me! Or do I forgive her? Hm… the way she said it. Aw, no point in over-thinking it. _Gai chuckled and smiled widely. "It's all behind us now." He pulled her into another, this time unsolicited, hug, nearly knocking the cot she was sitting on over.

Jostled into consciousness, Sasuke sat up abruptly, holding his arm out defensively. Kara clawed out of Gai's embrace to look at the Uchiha only half-awake. "You're awake!" She smiled.

The boy glared back, the irritable look on his face the result of being woken up so roughly. "You're alive."

Kara dramatically held her chest. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"With your track record… yea." Sasuke wiped the sleep from his eyes and allowed a small smile to let her know he was truly glad that she was okay.

--

Two days later the Hokage's funeral was held. The rain drizzled steadily in the place of tears that so many could not or would not show. Kara stood quietly at attention beside Neji. It gave her a nice corner position in the block formation, allowing for a quick and barely noticeable departure should she not wish to stick around. As shallow as it might sound, she still had not had time to fix her hair. The silver roots were now a whole inch in length and it took every brain cell she had to try and not focus on how freakish it must have looked.

After what felt like an eternity, the sun finally burst through the rainclouds; coinciding with the end of the ceremony and the natural dispersing of the crowd. "Did you really kill a giant snake?" Neji turned to face the girl next to him, catching her with an irresistible question before she could escape the public event.

"Heh, yeah. Snapped its head clean off." Kara brushed back her water-logged bangs to see him better. "Well, I guess it was more of a tearing action. Same difference I suppose." She leaned back on her heels, antsy and ready to leave. Too many people, too many opportunities to get wrangled into a discussion she didn't want to have. "What did you do during the attack?"

"I ended up assisting the final sweeps of the damaged sections of town." He tapped his temple, indicating his eyes.

"No one else has eyes quite like yours, Neji-kun. I'll be seeing ya' then." Kara nodded and spun around, ready to make her escape. Unfortunately, before she could take a single step she found both her and Neji surrounded by three ANBU in solid black capes. "Uh… can we help you?" She asked nervously.

"Harada Kara and Hyuuga Neji?" The one with a blue eagle mask inquired. Both children nodded; Kara more hesitantly so. "You'll both be coming with us."

"No. I'm afraid Neji won't be." Hiashi, Neji's uncle, broke into the circle and grasped him by the shoulder. He stared down the blue eagle and won.

The ANBU agent extended his hand to Kara. "Very well then. Kara?" She stared at it warily for a moment before gingerly accepting the hand.

Without another word, the three cloaked soldiers quickly left, taking Kara along with them. "…Oji-san." Neji looked up at Hiashi. "What was that? Where are they taking her?"

The nobleman sighed and let go of his nephew. "They were recruiting the two of you. They're probably taking her to ANBU headquarters to register her."

"What? But we're only genin." The suddenness of the whole brief encounter left him with more questions.

"Yes, exceptional genin. The ANBU takes advantage of situations like invasions and attacks in order to observe up incoming ninja. That way they can get the pick of the litter, you could say."

Neji nodded in understanding. "Then why did you stop them from taking me?"

"As skilled as those amongst their ranks are, I thought it would be more prudent for you to learn under my supervision." Hiashi guided Neji away and back toward the rest of the Hyuuga members in attendance.

--

"More analysis reports, sir." Tenzou lazily walked up to his superior's desk. The captain tapped the corner of the desk dismissively for him to place them there before returning to the paperwork he was working as quickly as possible to complete.

Also in the room at the moment, standing directly in front of the captain's desk, were three cloaked agents surrounding a young girl. Tenzou set down the files and was about to walk out of the room when an oddly familiar tinge of silver caught his eye. He paused and took a step back to look at the source more closely.

_Dammit! I seriously need to fix my hair!_ Kara winced inside as she imagined his soon to come revelation.

"What is going on here?" Tenzou slowly and carefully asked the question.

"Recruitment." The captain answered offhandedly, not even bothering to look up from the forms he was filling out. "…would have gotten the Hyuuga boy as well had his uncle not stopped us." He muttered ruefully.

Tenzou was practically floored. "And what do you think her uncle will do once he finds out you've drafted her?!"

_What the hell? Kitty knows? For how long? Is it common knowledge or something that I'm related to that… ugh!_ Kara leaned forward onto the desk and read some of the completed forms to distract herself. _…'the undersigned hereby releases… yada-yada-yada…' I wish this guy would just hurry up and finish this paperwork. Preferably before Tenzou causes trouble._

"What uncle?" The captain chuckled. "She's the only Harada in the village." He, along with every other ninja above the age of fifteen, knew full well of Kara's heritage. Word had managed to spread like wildfire since the conclusion of the second exam. However, it more than suited his quota to take advantage of the fact that 'she was an orphan'.

"Oh that's bullshit! She's a Hatake." Tenzou snapped angrily. "And you know that Kakashi is gonna be pissed when he finds out you 'recruited' his niece without telling him." His apparent outrage was met with a sharp glare. "…sir." He added to appease the officer.

The captain finished the paperwork and spun the last sheet around to face Kara. "Is that all Tenzou?" He calmly held out a pen for her to sign.

"…yes, sir." He answered through gritted teeth.

"Then leave." The captain smiled as Kara took the pen and lowered her hand to sign.

"Kara!" Tenzou tried to reach out and stop her from signing but was stopped by one of the three hooded agents. "You don't have to sign. They can't force you."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I know. I want to sign."

"W-what? Why?" Tenzou, in being a member of the ANBU himself, knew the kind of hardships that were awaiting her and he couldn't fathom why a girl like Kara would want any part of it.

_I think I finally understand why Gai-sensei always tried to push me so much. He knew I was good. …I killed a giant freakin' snake for cryin' out loud! _She shrugged her shoulders and curtly signed her name. "Why not? It's not like I've got anything better to do. Besides," She looked up at the captain behind the desk. "I've got potential." The man nodded with a grin and took back the pen and paper from her hands.

"We're pleased to have you, Ms. Harada." The captain placed the papers in a file and turned back to one of the cloaked ANBU responsible for bringing Kara to the office. "Hikaru, please escort Kara here to the barracks." The agent bowed and guided Kara away by the shoulder.

Tenzou stood there dumbstruck. "Didn't I tell you to leave?" The captain tossed a pencil, striking the young man on the forehead.

"Yes, sir." He held his head and quickly left the room.

The captain sighed. "Geez… what do ya'll two wanna bet he's going to go tattle on us to Kakashi-san?" He asked the two remaining agents.

"Do you want us to stay here with you sir?" The one with a blue eagle mask offered in anticipation of Kakashi's reaction to such news.

"Nah." He waved them off. "He can be a prick, but he can't do anything. He knows just as well as I do that Kara is legally responsible for herself. We didn't force her hand."

"But we did kinda bring her here and put the pen in her hand." The third soldier rubbed his arm nervously. "Don't you think that'll be enough to piss him off?" He appeared to be the only one present who feared the reputation the Copy ninja had earned.

The captain and the soldier in the blue eagle mask snickered at the other soldier's jittery words. "You can leave if you want to. I personally want to see his reaction." The cloaked man took a seat next to the captain's desk.

The anxious soldier bowed to his superiors and left. His departure was just in time too. Tenzou had quickly found Kakashi, informing him about Kara's sudden enlistment.

Hatake Kakashi marched right up to the captain's desk and calmly spoke. "Where's the contract?"

"What contract?" The captain answered with a question of his own, not even bothering to suppress a smirk. The ANBU agent sitting at the end of the desk even shook slightly with laughter.

"Don't be a smartass." His eye narrowed. "The contract Kara signed. Where is it?"

"What does it matter?" The man leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on his desk. Kakashi quickly smacked them off causing him to sit back up straight. The captain glared at him. "It's a binding legal document and there's nothing you can do about it."

"She's too young, too inexperienced, and you know it. Now give me the contract." He kept his voice low and menacing.

The ANBU agent sitting by the side piped up. "Weren't you younger than her when you joined up?"

"She's not me. And I'm getting sick of having to repeat myself." Kakashi placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward.

"Oh, well… I certainly hope she's got a bit of 'you' in her. That's why we picked her out." The captain chuckled. "That Akerakuri of hers is absolutely amazing. Did you teach it to her?"

Kakashi continued to silently fume. _If I hadn't shown her that damn ninjutsu then she would've flown under their radar. These bastards are worse than when I was a kid. I'm not going to get anywhere with these two, am I? Maybe if I hadn't taken this past year off to teach Team 7 I'd still have enough pull around here to have them tear up the contract._

Having received no answer to his question, the captain brushed it off. "Aw, don't worry Kakashi-san. We'll take good care of little Kara. …assuming she doesn't wash-out of course."

The seated agent to the side again snickered. "We've got a sixty-five percent wash-out rate, don't we?"

"Heh, I'm sure Kakashi her would rather her be part of that statistic. It's better than the ten percent death rate." The two men continued to find their apparent power over the far superior Copy-cat ninja to be of the utmost hilarity. Kakashi turned around and quietly left the room. He didn't even slam the door shut behind him. "Oh… heh, wow. Do you think we went too far?"

"Nah." The cloaked ANBU agent reached behind his mask to wipe away a few tears of laughter. "All we did was knock him down a few pegs. Besides, I heard that Kara was actually competent as far as being a ninja is concerned. She won't die during Hell Week."

The captain cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm sure the little princess will be fine."

* * *

**I think I've actually accomplished the impossible. I've made myself a Gai fan. After writing so much of him, I've come to like him. He can be really annoying and is almost always a source of comic relief, but he can also be serious and kinda badass. Not to mention I absolutely adore the vocabulary I have him using most of the time. Hah, I guess anything is truly possible.**

**Poor little Kara-hime. Next chapter is Hell Week. I've never been through a Hell Week myself, but I'd imagine (as is my duty as a writer) it's rather… hellish. Hmmm… I'm going to have to work on that. Reviews are loved and appreciated! (I'm only eleven reviews away from hitting 100! …'Sparks' hasn't even reached that number yet… stuck at 99 that one.)**


	17. Konoha no Akai Kiba

…**yes, yes. I've been M.I.A. Stuff (lookie! I didn't curse!) happens and we are now moving forward! Yay! That was my apology for vanishing without notice. Sorry it wasn't more 'apologetic' or informative.**

**Now for my A/N: The mark of a true fiction writer (and a psychotic evidently) is that their characters begin to take on a life of their own. I've been arguing with my OC Kara for awhile now. She just doesn't wanna get over the whole 'Kashi/uncle' thing. I'm sick (as I'm certain ya'll are as well) of her moping and emoness (emoniety?) but she refuses to forgive him. I promise to find a way around her issues. (Lord, there seems to be so many.) I want to get back to the happy, comical chapters of old.

* * *

**

Chapter 17: Konoha no Akai Kiba

There she stood silently at attention for the induction ceremony. Her shirt had a few tears and from the knees down, her pants had a spray dirt and debris that didn't look like it was going to come out in the wash. Her hair was an unkempt mass, half light silver and half jet black, framing her face and shoulders. She wasn't panting nearly as hard as several of the others in her group, but the day's training had been quite hard. Not as physically strenuous as Gai's training had been, but psychologically it had been downright torture. One week had passed since Kara had signed herself into this situation. For one solid week she had tried to keep to herself and absorb as much as she could. One hundred and sixty eight hours of hell on earth and today had been the last day of basic training.

Yes. That's right. ANBU Boot Camp was only one measly week in length. But considering everything was done on a sink or swim basis and the recruits were only allowed three hours of sleep per 24 hour period, a lot got done in that one week.

--

One hour earlier:

The last day's training mission was a kind of War Games scenario, with a slight twist. Three of the ANBU captains leading the way turned on the recruits, injuring the strongest and smartest members before disappearing themselves, requiring someone else to take charge. Kara was low in the pecking order, being the youngest to have made it so far, but the more outgoing older ones had panic attacks and succumbed to the stress. Another wave could fall upon them at a moment's notice and no one seemed able to take the lead. Though extremely reluctant, she took charge anyway; self preservation urging her into such a role. Everyone else fed off of her composed energy. Kara politely handed out orders and without the slightest dispute, everyone did as they were told. Perimeters were set up and maintained, scouts stayed sharp and injuries were tended to promptly.

"Uh, hey." A young man, easily five years her senior, timidly approached her while she scratched out a set of defensive tactics on a sheet of paper for the small squadron she was about to send out on reconnaissance. "What was your name again?"

"What?" She asked out of the corner of her mouth as her eyes stayed focused on the work before her.

"Well, it just that me and a few of the others have never noticed you before." He nodded behind him to a group of young adults. They were probably the ones that everyone had expected to take charge, only they never did. "But someone said you were from a famous family line. And now you're ordering us around like it comes natural to you." His curiosity wasn't in the least bit malicious.

Kara's hand froze. "What family?" She meant for it to be sardonic since in her mind she didn't have any.

But the young man answered her question straightaway, not noticing her biting tone. "Hatake. Is it true? Are you really a descendant of the White Fang?"

_Who?_ She looked up at the man and paused. The look on his face betrayed the slightest bit of anxiety inside him. Kara glanced around the campsite. Everyone was stressed beyond their normal limits. _Well… if it'll calm them down and make them believe I know what the hell I'm doing._ She turned back to the small squad in front of her and handed them their orders. "Yea. Genetically speaking, I suppose."

The man was struck with awe. "R-Really? Wow, that's… thank god." He breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to face his entourage off to the side. "She is a Hatake!"

"I don't see what's so great about being one." Kara grumbled rudely and pushed past him, on to take care of other duties.

"Huh? What's so great?! Oh wait… you're just being humble, right?" He trailed after her. Others joined in following her every step after hearing the man's shout to his friends about her heritage. She refused to stop so he called out to her. "Hatake Sakumo." The name received no response. "On par with the Three Sannin. Father of Sharingan Kakashi. The White Fang of Konoha! How do you not know who he is?!"

Kara stopped dead in her tracks and spun around on her heel to face the small crowd. "I'll tell you how." She hissed lowly. "His son's a cruel, selfish, hateful and… and... " Her eyes grew slightly at the sight of so many people staring at her, wanting her to be their savior. But all she was doing was showing how much of a petty child she could be. "And… it just slipped my mind. Is there something I can help you all with?" The group shook their heads back and forth. "Alright then. Get back to your stations. There's work to be done."

She had mimicked Gai's authoritative voice and they all immediately returned to work… except the one young man who had started asking her questions. Kara stared up at him not knowing what to tell him. He finally broke the silence. "My grandpa knew him personally; Konoha no Shiroi Kiba. He always told me he was the greatest man, from the greatest family he ever knew. He said that a Hatake would always take care of theirs, above every other duty."

"…why are you telling me this?" Kara whispered, doing her best not to hiss for fear of drawing another crowd.

His masculinity finally caught up with him and he glanced off to the side, a bit embarrassed. "I guess just to let you know that I trust you. We all trust you." He nodded to the entire camp of recruits. "With you on our side there's no way we could fail today."

Kara stood there, avoiding eye contact with him and trying desperately to hide her pouting. She crossed her arms and took a step closer to him. "Apparently, I am a descendant of that man, but I'm not a Hatake. My name's Harada Kara. I'm sorry, but I'm not this amazing… anything."

Before he could even attempt a response, another wave of attacks surrounded them. Kunai sliced through their every defense, scattering the remaining recruits. Some fought, some hid, others finally snapped after weeks of living under such immense pressure and fear. Kara ran to those instinctually. "Get up! Move!" She shouted orders at the frozen few. Some managed to gather their wits and fight back against the onslaught of already fully-qualified ANBU as they descended on the encampment.

One lizard-masked ANBU headed straight for a young woman, cowering on her knees, eyes tightly shut. Without thinking, Kara jumped in front of her and countered the kick the ANBU operative was about to deliver to her. _Whoa! Holy…! _The soldier reflexively jumped back.

"Heh… what's the matter, sir?" Kara growled, ready to take on the challenge. "You're not scared of little ol' me, are ya'?" She charged forward, driving a flashing red fist into the soldier's gut. He panicked and failed to block the next kick from her that swept his feet out from under him. She planted her foot on his chest and glared down at the masked man. "I'd stay down if I were you."

"I think it's over." One of the recruits walked up to Kara and her captive. She looked around and noticed that the attack was over as quickly as it had begun. The results were about even. Half of the remaining recruits had been knocked unconscious while half of the assaulting ANBU had been incapacitated themselves.

"Hn." Kara cracked her knuckles, letting a crimson spark snap out of every one. "Fine." She removed her foot from the soldier's chest and offered him a hand up.

He kindly took it. "Thanks for not killing me, kid. I've heard what you're capable of."

She stared at him warily. "What exactly have you heard?"

"Um… you're joking right?" The girl's eyes narrowed in confusion. The man shook his head in disbelief that she hadn't noticed the kind of reputation she had been building for the last week. "We've been calling you the new Red Fang for awhile."

Kara's glare broke. "W-what? Who's 'we' and why are they calling me that?"

"Ha!" He patted her on the head and walked away. "Cute kid. Funny too." He glanced back at her and the recruit that had come to her side. "Well, come on you two. Basic training is officially over. It's time for inductions!"

--

Kakashi was sitting on the park bench, uncomfortable and picking at the worn edges of his prized Icha Icha. "…please." He dared glance over at the woman sitting next to him. "You know I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important to me."

"Heh." The woman snorted and stretched out her arms over the back of the bench. "Well, I assumed as much. But are you sure of what you're asking?" She watched him nod his head solemnly. "Hmm… I don't know…" She mockingly tapped her chin.

"Anko." He turned around and faced her completely. "I can't stand the idea of Kara with those people. If I thought I could do it myself, you know I would. I'm… I'm begging you." The words barely made it out of his mouth, but for Kara's sake they did.

Anko's cruel, grinning eyes softened up upon catching his desperate gaze. "Yeah. Okay. What are friends for, right?"

With a deep sigh of relief, Kakashi leaned back where he sat. "Thank you."

The Tokubetsu Jonin stood and looked down at the silver-haired man. "Don't thank me just yet." She snickered and walked away.

--

Kara stood in line with all the other recruits that had passed and listened as their head instructor blathered on about strength and loyalty. As commencement speeches go, it wasn't half bad. "Now, if all the women will stick out their right arms, the men their left." The man ordered and everyone obeyed. He and two attendants went down the line, tattooing the ANBU symbol on all of the newly promoted soldiers.

Kara winced slightly at the sudden sting, but got over it quickly. "Cool…" She touched her arm and smiled before pulling her sleeve back down to cover the mark of accomplishment.

"Harada Kara!" A captain approached the group, shouting for her.

"Sir." She took a step forward, presenting herself like she had been taught.

"Tch… we're so going to have to do something about your hair." Anko had followed the captain to stand before Kara. "Well, come on. I've already got your things." The older woman tossed the girl a duffel bag and nodded for her to follow.

Kara hesitated, not understanding why the 'crazy exam lady' was talking to her; let alone there in the first place. "Umm… wait, what's going on?"

The captain grabbed Kara's shoulder and shoved her forward into Anko. The woman caught her before the child slammed into her chest and spun her around to listen to the captain's parting words. "Consider yourself lucky, brat! Most newbies get sent out on the front lines… you get a mentor. You must think you're so special…" He grumbled.

"As a matter of fact she is. Why do you think I'd ask for her?" Anko chuckled at the captain's gruff farewell and pulled Kara alongside herself, leaving the small crowd behind. "So, how was Basic, kid?"

"It, uh… wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be." She was slowly starting to grasp what was happening. "Did he say 'mentor'?"

"He sure did!" The older woman laughed again. "Don't worry we'll have all kinds of fun. But first, your hair. I can't stand to be seen with someone who looks like a… well, suffice it to say your hair is hideous. We need to fix it."

Kara pulled herself free from Anko's grasp and stared up at the woman. "You 'asked' for me? Can I ask why?"

The jonin picked a twig out of Kara's rat's nest of hair. "Because you are proving to be a rather talented young lady that I want to teach." Kara stared at her blankly. "…and because your uncle asked me to." The teenager threw down the duffel bag in her arms and started marching back toward the group of newly inducted ANBU operatives. "Hey! It was only because he cares." Anko caught her arm.

"Don't 'hey' me!" Kara snapped at her, pulling her arm free once again. "I don't want anything from him! You're here because he 'cares' about me? That's bullshit! If he ever gave a damn about me--" A solid smack across the face shut her up. She held her cheek and watched the woman; too shocked to process any more thoughts.

"Watch your tongue, you little brat." She hissed lowly and grabbed a chunk of Kara's hair, dragging her away.

--

"Ack! Ow! Ow, ow, ow! God, stop it already! You're hurting me! Seriously! Stop! You can't drag someone by their hair! You're gonna make my scalp bleed! Owwww!"

"Learn how to speak respectfully and then I'll let you walk on your own."

Naruto popped his head out of the Ichiraku Ramen shop just long enough to see the scary snake lady from the second exam dragging a young girl by the hair behind her. _Was that Kara-chan?_

"Hey there, Naruto!" Jiraiya walked up to the blonde boy, pulling him from his thoughts. "Wanna go on a trip with me?"

"Huh? Um, not really." He popped back behind the curtains and returned to his meal. The sannin rolled his eyes and entered the shop to continue to try and convince Naruto to travel with him to a nearby city.

--

"Here we are!" Anko finally let go of Kara's tender scalp. The young girl fell to the ground with a thud, holding her head tentatively.

"Where's here?" She grumbled angrily, not bothering to take in her surroundings.

Anko hooked Kara under her shoulders and lifted her to her feet. "The salon, silly. Come on. My stylist is waiting for you."

"Ha!" Kara snorted in laughter and looked over her shoulder at the much more dangerous woman. "You have a 'stylist'?"

The jonin shot back a death glare. "Yeah. I do. You gotta problem with that?"

Her giggling ceased. "No, ma'am."

"Good. In ya' go." The salon was bustling with different gaggles of little girls and old ladies. "Yuki-neechan!" Anko cheerfully shoved Kara into an empty styling chair and greeted the woman who manned it.

"Ah! Anko-hime! Is this the problem child you were telling me about?" The elderly woman instantly dug her long nails into Kara's skull.

_Who're you calling a 'problem child' lady!_ Kara winced as the woman pulled and brushed at the tangled strands. Her scalp was still terribly tender after Anko's brusque manner in delivering her to the salon. "Just fix the roots, please." She mumbled, but was sure to add the 'please'.

"No, no. Fix the ends." Anko altered the request and stared at Kara in the mirror's reflection in front of them. "Your skin is much to fair to have such dark hair. Your natural color is much better suited for you." Before Kara could attempt to push herself out of the chair, Anko's hand pressed down on her shoulder, trapping her. "Don't make this harder than it has to be." The young girl snorted in rueful acceptance. "Good girl." The jonin let go of her and smiled at the hair stylist. "Hop to it, madam."

--

"Shhhh…." Gai hushed Kurenai and Asuma. The three hovered around Kakashi's still form. They had just gotten the Copy-ninja into bed when he heard light footsteps rushing up the stairs and correctly assumed it was Sasuke.

"What's going on here? Why's Kakashi lain up like that?" Sasuke walked right into the center of the room, demanding answers.

Gai chuckled. "Aw, it's nothing really."

Another ninja rushed into the room and blabbed about what the newest rumor around town was. "Is it true that Itachi was in town looking for Naruto and he almost killed Kakashi?!"

Sasuke couldn't have run out of the room any faster. Gai face-palmed as he stood to run after the boy. "Ugh! Why can't things ever be easy around here?"

--

Kara sat outside the beauty parlor, swinging her legs back and forth bored. The stylist had finished her hair quickly and had offered to give Anko a quick trim of her own. But Kara couldn't stand one more minute in the place. In a bit of a generous mood, Anko allowed her to sit outside, provided she not run off. It was a stipulation Kara could deal with.

"…stupid Anko… stupid Kakashi… It was probably his idea to make my hair this god awful silver again. I hope Karma punishes him for this." She grasped locks of her jagged, light-ash colored hair in both of her hands and hissed. "I hope he dies for this." With a tired sigh, she released her hair and returned to moping about its new/old appearance.

Sasuke ran past with a hell-bent look on his face. If she had blinked, she might have missed it. He didn't notice her. He didn't seem to notice anything. He just kept running, headed straight out of the village. "…odd." Kara stood and took a few steps forward to watch him run out of view.

A minute or so later, Gai came running up behind her. "Hey, excuse me!" He tapped her shoulder, not recognizing her at first. "Did you see a young boy run by here?"

Stunned, Kara didn't turn around to face her former sensei. She was instantly distraught by the fact that he didn't realize it was her. "Was he a ninja?" She mumbled.

"Yes."

The man's ignorance grated on her last batch of nerves. And that certainly wasn't going to stop her from messing with him now. "Wearing a black shirt?"

"Yes!"

Kara rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders before turning around. "Nope. Haven't seen him."

"Oh… well, thank you anyways." Gai took one step, about to head off in search of Kakashi's over-emotional student, before it finally registered that he had been talking to his own student. "K-Kara-chan? Wha-? Your hair. It's… so…"

"Ugly. Despicable. Unforgivable." She sneered, continuing to hate her appearance for the fact that it had made her unidentifiable by her own sensei.

"I was gonna say 'light'. It's very pretty and suits you." He smiled and patted her on the head. "Now I really must go and find Sasuke before something bad happens."

His words snapped her out of her self-loathing spin. "Huh? Something bad? What's going on? Why was Sasuke running out of town?"

"He ran out of town? I thought you hadn't seen him!" Gai was having trouble keeping up with Kara's sarcasm.

"Of course I saw him, sensei!" She looked over her shoulder at the beauty salon. _I really shouldn't leave without that psycho's permission… but this is serious. And it's not like I'm alone. Gai-sensei is with me._ "Come on. I'll show you which way he went." Kara grabbed the man by the hand and rushed him off in the direction she had last seen Sasuke running.

Gai was kind enough to inform Kara of the events that had taken place over the past few hours. His tale ended just as they crossed the main gates of the village. "Kara?" There was no response. She just kept sprinting, Gai right alongside her. "Kara-chan?" Still no answer. "Bugaboo, you're scaring me. Say something."

Kara's dull, blue eyes stayed narrow and focused ahead of them, following three distinct trails; one over an hour old, one near invisible to the trained eye and one careless and frantic in its most recent creation. All three converged on the lively traveler's town on the horizon. "Itachi." She whispered breathlessly before picking up the pace. _Itachi is chasing Naruto. Sasuke is chasing Itachi. I'm chasing Sasuke… and Itachi._ _Shit. Anko's gonna beat me to death, isn't she?_

--

"Thanks again, Yuki-chan!" Anko walked out the front door of the salon, waving back to her good friend. The door closed and she turned to stare at an empty bench in front of the building. Her eye twitched as she followed a set of footprints in the dirt. She noticed how they met up with a larger set of tracks before both pairs broke out in a sprint headed out of town. "So that's how you wanna play it, eh?" Slowly, Anko cracked every knuckle in her left and then right hands.

"Anko-sempai." A masked ANBU operative jumped down from a nearby rooftop and bowed respectfully.

"Hn." She took a deep breath, pulling herself out of her low-boiling rage if only for the moment. "What is it?"

The soldier looked up at her. "Just delivering an update to all Jounin, ma'am." He procured a small, hastily-written scroll from his tote. She sighed and took the delivery. He bowed again and left.

Anko read the message and glanced back down at the trail before her with more suspicion than wrath. _Okay… now I'm really curious if this, _she spun the small scroll around in her hands, _has anything to with Kara running the risk that I will beat her to death when I find her._ The message relayed to her pertained to Kakashi, Gai, Asuma and Kurenai's recent skirmish with Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, two missing ninjas from the Leaf and Mist respectively.

--

"I've lost it." Kara halted her running in the middle of a crowded street. "I lost his trail. Too many people." She spun around and stared up at Gai. "What do we do now, Gai-sensei?"

_Crap. I don't know. I was following you._ "This way!" Gai confidently took the lead. _Umm, okay. Jiraiya-sama would probably get a hotel. A nice one. But not too nice cause he'd need money for the bars._ Gai was as familiar with Jiraiya and his habits as anyone else who had spent some time with him.

_What trail is he following?_ Kara followed dutifully behind him, but kept her eyes open for any leads herself. Then she spotted him. Unmistakable, even from a 100 yards away. "Sasuke!" She quickly broke from Gai and started pushing through the crowd. She wanted to catch him before he made it inside the hotel.

"Kara-chan! Wait! Hey! Hold on a second!" Gai scrambled after her. He caught her by the arm. "We can't just go running in there blindly."

She stopped pulling against him. "You mean we need a plan?" _Since when does Gai-sensei make 'plans'?_

"Umm… yes." _It's way too dangerous for my little Kara to go in there. _"You take the back entrance and I will go in the front."

"And we meet in the middle of the building? Okay, sounds good sensei." She took half a step before being instantly pulled back by Gai. "What?"

He tapped his finger to his lips thoughtfully before taking a breath and reiterating his plan. "I will go in after Sasuke. You will stay at the back entrance and just watch to see if anyone leaves." He stared at her with an earnest grin. "It's foolproof."

_It also keeps me away from harm, doesn't it? I've been through so much training. Why can't he trust me?! _Kara tensed, fighting the urge to snap at the man who was only being protective of her. _Ugh! I don't have time for this! Sasuke is up there probably trying to start a fight with Itachi. He doesn't stand a chance!_ "Fine, sensei."

"Really?" She nodded tiredly. "Alright then." Gai released her and sprinted ahead toward the front of the hotel.

Kara took her time walking around to the back entrance, taking in her surroundings and a few key facts. _There are no rooms on the ground floor. Any quick escapes will most likely be made from a higher level._ She meandered over to a small pile of crates alongside an adjacent building with a perfect view of the hotel's rear and took a seat. _Jiraiya, Naruto, Gai, Sasuke, Itachi and a fellow named Kisame._ She sighed as she imagined the exciting fight going on inside. _I should be in there. I should be fighting. I should be risking my life. Instead, I'm out here… _Her eyes drifted down to a nearby dumpster. _ watching garbage fester. What was the point of ANBU training if all I'm going to be doing is sitting and standing guard? I knew I should have stuck with them. They believed in my potential. I even had a nickname. Konoha no Akai Kiba. Betcha it would have gone under my name in a Bingo Book someday. I doubt it now. Especially with Anko as a mentor of some sort. It's got to be some kind of a sick joke._

There was a sudden burst of black flames from the second floor of the hotel. Kara snapped to attention and was instantly on her feet. Two dark robed figures leapt down through the hole created by the explosion. The first, a tall imposing man with blue tinted skin and a sword just as intimidating to match, hardly paused as he quickly darted away from the crime scene. However, the second man came to a complete halt and turned to face Kara.

The two stared at each other. "Itachi…" Kara dropped the kunai she had reflexively drawn after the explosion. Itachi slightly shook his head back and forth at her. Whether it was for her lack of fear, initiative or aggression, she was only left to wonder. He disappeared faster than Kisame had. In a sort of weak daze, Kara shuffled to stand where he had stood. "What did he do?" She spun around and gazed up at the hole in the second story wall. "Please tell me he didn't… "

"Don't go near the flames Naruto!" Kara distinctly heard Jiraiya's rough voice reprimand Naruto.

_If the two of them are still alive, then Sasuke must be fine too._ She breathed a sigh of premature relief and jumped up to the second floor, making good use of the gaping hole in the wall. "Hey."

"Ack! Kara-chan! What are you doing here?" Naruto jumped back slightly startled by her sudden appearance.

_I was just asking myself the same thing a moment ago…_ "No reason. So, everything good here?" The young girl chirped happily smiling at the blonde.

Jiraiya glared down at Kara suspiciously. "Yeah. We're fi--!!!" His sentence was cut short by a sudden 'Dynamic Entry'.

_Whoa._ Kara and Naruto watched as the incident happened in slow motion before them. Gai delivered a high flying kick to make Chuck Norris proud right to the bridge of the Sannin's nose. It was horrifyingly glorious in its execution.

The taijutsu guru was apologizing before Jiraiya even hit the ground. "I'm so sorry! I was in such a rush that I had to use my headband instead of a mirror and everyone looks the same in its reflection. I thought you were an enemy. My bad, really."

Kara interrupted the string of excuses that followed Gai's grave misidentification. "You're a bit late, sensei."

He looked away from the incredibly irritated looking Jiraiya and back at Kara. "Hey! I thought I told you to stay out back and watch. You just cannot follow orders, can you?" He wagged his pointer finger at her. "I know it's in your DNA to disobey me, but you really need to work on following rules bugaboo. Being such a rebel will only get you killed."

Kara couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at the inappropriately timed lecture. "Yes, sensei. Sorry, sensei. Won't happen again, sensei." She droned on before noticing Naruto had left her side to kneel beside an unconscious Sasuke. "Whoa, hey. What happened?" She rushed over to the two boys.

"He's not too bad as far as physical injuries go." Jiraiya began to explain. "But I'm afraid that whatever jutsu Itachi used may have caused significant mental damage."

"Same thing happened to Kakashi earlier today." Gai stood beside the Sannin.

"What about Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto shot up from the floor beside Kara and intruded on the adults' conversation.

Gai apparently ignored the blonde's inquiry. "Times like these, with so many severe injuries… Makes me wish we had that medical specialist with us."

Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "Yup. That's why I've decided to go and search for her." _Hah, I'll find her and bring her back. She'll heal everyone that's hurt and become the next Hokage so that I don't have to! But I'll still look like a hero! It's foolproof. Hehehe…_

"Who? Who!?" Naruto desperately wanted to be included in the conversation.

"Would you calm down?" The sannin held the boy's shoulder. "I'm going to go and find a woman named Princess Tsunade. She'll fix everything. Don't worry."

_Sasuke… I wish I could ask you why you would do something so stupid, but I already know the answer, don't I?_ Kara tenderly wiped away a line of blood from his mouth.

"I should have intervened, but I didn't want to hurt the boy's pride." Jiraiya apologized to no one in particular, though the statement seemed directed at Kara and her forlorn appearance.

"I doubt you could have stopped him." Kara slipped her arm under the boy's shoulder and began to lift him up off the cold ground. Gai quickly stepped forward and took the burden from her.

Jiraiya sneered at the young girl's statement. "You're really having trouble grasping who I am, aren't you?"

Kara looked up at the tall white-haired man with a mature stare. "You're Jiraiya the Great Toad Sage. Student of the late third Hokage. One of the three Sannin, the finest shinobi to ever come out of Konoha." He seemed shocked by the amount information she was aware of. "Would you like me to go on?" His shocked expression refused to fade. Kara lifted her right sleeve up to reveal her ANBU tattoo. "They're big on educating us about Konoha's origins, battle history and heroes."

"Hn." The Toad Sage nodded once in begrudged acceptance of her knowledge and turned toward Gai to discuss something else before leaving.

Naruto had listened to her whole little explanation. "Hi. My name is Naruto." He stuck out his hand at her in a friendly fashion. "Who are you again? Cause there's no way you're the Kara I know. The Kara I know is a strange, clever girl who is a genin, like me. Not a freakishly well-informed ANBU soldier."

His unique way of asking 'what the hell?' made her smile. "I don't think either of us is at a genin level anymore. Between your skirmish with that little tanuki and my play date with a garden snake, I'd say we're at least at a Chunnin level... even if no one tells us officially." She grabbed him by the shoulder and led him forward, following the two adult men out of the building.

--

After saying goodbye and wishing Naruto and Jiraiya luck in their search for Tsunade, Kara and Gai, with Sasuke in tow, headed back to the village.

"Sensei." Kara continued looking at the ground as she walked alongside him. "This Tsunade woman… is she really going to fix Lee and Sasuke."

"Tsunade-hime is unlike anyone else. If it can be cured, she can cure it." He poked her in the shoulder. "She'll be able to help Kakashi too."

"Tch…" Kara sneered. "I don't think what he has can be cured." She didn't like the taste that was left in her mouth after that remark. "I don't wanna talk about him. Can we change the subject please?"

Gai sighed and dropped his shoulders slightly under the weight of Sasuke on his back. "M'kay bugaboo. What're you gonna do about Anko-chan? I remember Kakashi mentioning that she was going to be your new mentor and if I know Anko, and I do, you are probably in for a world of hurt when you get back to the village for leaving without her permission."

Sometimes, Gai hits a target dead on. Kara froze. Her eyebrows slowly furrowed together in concentrated thought. _Well hell... I had stopped thinking about her. What am I going to do? I gotta think of something. Some excuse. I'm smart. I can think up an alibi. ………What's the point in doing that?! This is Anko. Crazy, Snaky, Blood-Licking, Hair-Pulling, Bitch-Slapping Anko! Even the truth couldn't save me from her wrath!_ "Um…" Kara looked up at Gai with a stiff upper lip. "I guess I'll just have to tough it out."

"Atta girl!" He patted her on the back with a wide grin. "Now I know you must be my student. You will bravely face your punishment." He noticed his pride in her resolution was going unappreciated. "Well, a heads up for you. She'll probably appear when you least expect her to. And she'll go for the cheap shot. Whatever will hurt you the most."

"Thanks sensei." Kara sighed, grateful for the information but still dreading the fact that she needed it.

From the second the village walls were in sight, Kara was on guard; waiting, watching and fearing a sneak attack from her Jounin warden. By the time Gai had left her sitting by Sasuke's side in his hospital bed, her face was a nervous wreck. "God, I just wish she would show up already. I can't stand this waiting. Just breathing is like walking on pins and needles." She chuckled lightly as she spoke to the Uchiha's unconscious form. The laughter was good for her and she relaxed a bit, sliding back into her seat as her eyes drifted out the window to watch the afternoon sky.

"Why can't you forgive him?" Kara spoke freely and without worry of any backlash from the emotionally repressed young man. "Why is it that you seem to be incapable of forgiving Itachi?" She kicked her feet up onto the bed and continued talking, using her hands as she began her argument. "I mean, not for his sake, but for your own. This vengeance… this hatred you have in you… its eating you from the inside out. You don't deserve this." Kara nodded toward him and waved her hands about to indicate the room they were in. "You deserve to be happy."

"So lemme get this straight." Anko's sharp voice slipped in, breaking Kara's monologue. "You understand how forgiveness works and how it would help Sasuke move forward in his life. But you continue to fail to see the need for forgiveness in your own life?"

The moment she heard the dreaded voice, Kara's whole body tensed up. Instinctually, she had her chakra pumped up and ready to fight. The natural effect was that she appeared to be blushing. _Gah! How long was she standing over there by the door?!_ "What's your point?" She refused to let the woman know she had caught her severely off-guard.

"Aside from you're a moron?" Anko rolled her eyes completely exasperated by Kara's choice to remain so obstinate against forgiving her old friend. "You know, Kakashi's room is just down the hall."

Kara snapped at her and retorted with an angry snort. "If you care about him so much, why don't you go visit him?"

"I think I will." Though, instead of turning around and leaving, Anko glided three feet forward and grabbed Kara by the back of the neck. Unsurprisingly, the girl reacted violently, just not enough to stop the abduction. "And you're coming with me."

"Ack! Argh! No! Stop it! Why are you so damn pushy!?" Kara twisted around in the woman grasp to no avail.

"Oh would you stop being such a drama queen." Anko rolled her eyes as she muscled Kara out into the hallway and walked her down towards Kakashi's room. "And in response to your question, I know exactly why I am the way I am. But my issues can wait for another time. Right now," she forced Kara into a chair beside the unconscious man. "We are going to face your neurosis."

Kara sat motionless and silent, choosing to stare exclusively at her knees.

"Talk about heartless… Couldn't you at least look at him?" She released Kara from her hold and shook her head in disappointment.

"I'm not heartless." The young girl grumbled under her breath.

Anko leaned down and hissed into her ear. "Then prove it."

As if on command Kara's head snapped up and glared at Kakashi. "There. I looked. Can I leave now?"

Obviously the action had not been to Anko's satisfaction. She pinched the bridge of her nose and started to leave the room, pausing at the door. "You know… people have called me a cold, hateful bitch. I never thought I'd meet another one half my age." She slammed the door shut behind her on the way out.

Kara flinched where she sat. Anko's abrupt and hurtful words had struck a chord with her. "You are a bitch…" She muttered quietly as she picked apart her thumb's cuticle. Slowly her eyes drifted from her diligent masochism and fell upon the infirmed man. "Why would you ask someone like her to yank me out of ANBU?" The fact that she was actually talking to him for the first time in months struck her as both funny and upsetting. "Heh… you must have been real desperate. How pathetic." She sneered. "Especially now."

She stood and began to slowly pace back and forth at the foot of his hospital bed. "Just look at yourself." Kara's words were stinging with repressed aggression. She pointed her finger at him mockingly. "Aren't you supposed to be the Great Copy-Cat Ninja, Sharingan Kakashi? Looks to me like you bit off a bit more than you could chew. Don't tell me you really thought you could win against someone like Itachi?" She walked around to the side of the bed and leaned over to stare into his face. "How absolutely pathetic."

Something about tearing into him made her feel good. Living day to day, just ignoring her pain, had given her a numb peace, but not real resolution. Every time her 'situation' had been brought up by anyone, she had snapped. Her mood would take a nosedive. But this snide behavior, now directed at its source, was actually improving her attitude. Unfortunately, this made her more vulnerable.

"Hey. I know what this is." Kara stood back up straight and tapped her chin, sarcastically chuckling. "This is Karma. You had Anko dye my hair silver again - don't you dare say you had nothing to do with it cause I know you did - and I wished…" Her conscious had finally decided to show up. "I… wished you were dead." The words hung in the air as she suddenly found that she had to decide if she had actually been the cause of his current state. Logically, she had nothing to do with it. Emotionally, she was as guilty as they come.

For a moment, it looked like Kakashi had stopped breathing. In that moment, she panicked. "Hey. Hey!" Kara's arms shot out and pushed into his chest. He took another normal breath, remaining completely calm in his unconscious state. He hadn't stopped breathing. It had just been the girl's overactive imagination. "That's right. You better not just up and die. I'm still incredibly pissed off at you. And I'll be damned if you die before I get a chance to give you a piece of my mind. You don't get to lie to me like you did and then not have to face the music, sempai." The honorific slipped out before she could stop herself. Likewise, her hands reached up and fluffed the pillow his head rested on without her conscious consent. In her defense, it was a bit flat and annoying to look at.

She took a deep breath and finally calmed down enough to sit back down. "Once Jiraiya-sama gets back with this famous medic and she fixes you up, you better believe I'll be putting you right back here." Her smirk was light-hearted but serious. "Don't go thinking I'm just blowing a lot of hot air. I'm a real threat now." Kara leaned back in her seat and kicked her feet up onto the edge of the hospital bed. "I'm the Red Fang of Konoha."

* * *

**Wasn't that ending just touching? … m'kay, I know it could have been more but you should be happy with what you get. Santa doesn't do refunds. (Yes, I am referring to myself as Santa Claus. And no, I don't know why. Nor do I know why I'm sounding a tad abrasive here. :/ )**

**Next chapter will be coming round the mountain when it comes. Just curious here (I'm in Linguistics this semester) Do ya'll notice my accents in my A/N's or do ya'll just glaze over the fact that I actually type the word "ya'll" as though it were a real word? Cause when I'm typing these, I slide back and forth between my northern and southern accents. (I already got in trouble in a speech class for using my South Texan accent instead of my LP Michigan one. Cause supposedly, Yankees speak correctly and Southerners are dumb.)**

**P.S. REVIEWS!!! I love 'em like I love vanilla yogurt and green apples. (diets can taste good and be good for you!)**


	18. Something Gained, Something Lost

**I believe that I have done a good job of making Sasuke seem to be not so much of an asshole in this story. This chapter in particular. Sorry if his thoughts seem a tad OOC, but seriously folks… the way he is in the manga, he's just a plain unlovable jackass. With my alterations, I think we can see him from Kara's perspective and therefore accept him as a decent human being. So basically, I've written him the way rational fangirls of his see him.**

**In this chapter: Kakashi lays all his cards on the table. Will it be enough for Kara? And it's the season for change. What dramatic events will happen in this and other chapters to come? Read on, my plucky readers, to find out in this week's installment of **_**Last Correspondence**_**! (C'mon… you know you heard this paragraph in a theatrical announcer's voice. And you laughed.)**

**FYI: Longest Chapter to Date. Buckle up folks, it's gonna be a long, bumpy ride.

* * *

**

Chapter 18: Something Gained, Something Lost

"Well, good morning sleepy-head!" Anko's cheeky smile welcomed Kakashi back to the world of the aware. "I was wondering how much longer you were going to sleep. So, how're you feeling?"

He took a moment to clean his eyes of sleep crumbs and look around the hospital room. "…hungry." The words cracked and caught him by surprise. He cleared his throat and tried speaking again. "How long was I out for?"

"A little over two weeks. No big deal." The woman plopped herself down at the foot of his bed. He managed to slide his feet out of the way before she crushed them. "I've seen bigger men incapacitated for longer periods of time from lesser injuries." She stared at him expectantly.

He stared back blankly. After an awkward two minutes he finally caved and asked, "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

Her chipper grin instantly morphed to one of distaste. "Seriously? You don't want to ask me anything? Nothing at all?"

Kakashi sat up straight in his bed and shrugged his shoulders in an uncaring fashion. "I don't know. Did something happen that I should be informed of?" Anko glared at him. He raised his hands in defense. "Okay, okay. Tell me what's changed."

"Well… after your little skirmish, Kisame and Itachi fled in search of Naruto, Sasuke chased them, Gai chased him and at the last minute Kara joined the crazy train and left too." She took note of his tension at the mention of Kara and patted him on the hand consolingly. "Don't worry. She was late getting there. She told me she didn't even get to see Itachi before Jiraiya-sama scared them off."

"Good.", was all he had to say to that. He never much cared for the fact that Kara felt she was connected to Sasuke's past. It was Sasuke's problem, his own brother, not Kara's. She shouldn't have to deal with it.

Anko continued on with her updates. "Also, Jiraiya found Tsunade and brought her back to the village. She's the one that healed you. She's also been named the Fifth Hokage. You might want to thank and congratulate her next time you see her."

Kakashi nodded his head, making a mental note to do that the next time he saw the older woman. "Anything else?"

"Hmmmm….." Anko tapped her chin. "I don't know if it would pique your interest but, Kara has visited you for a few hours every day since you were hurt."

"Really?!" The man leaned forward, completely shocked by the news. She nodded and tilted her head toward the closed, glass window to his left. His head swiveled around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. Kara was sitting on the small roof outcrop outside. Her back was to them and all they could see was her silver hair, put up in a low ponytail, waving in the fall breeze. "Does this mean…?"

"She's forgiven you?" Anko interpreted his thoughts. His eye stayed glued to the sight outside his window. "Hell no."

He looked back at the woman at the foot of his bed. "What? But you just said--"

"I said she's been spending time with you." She interrupted him. "I didn't say anything about why she was doing what she was doing. That girl is very upset with you." Anko stood up and walked to the window, opening it and calling out to Kara. "He's awake now."

Kara slightly turned her head to glance over her shoulder. In that brief moment she looked so different. Ragged silver bangs framed the sides of her face and her ponytail, though smoother and obviously more feminine, rested against her neck and shoulders in such a way… Kakashi would have sworn he was looking at someone else; someone he knew was dead and gone. She turned away again and stood up before turning around and crawling in through the window. "About time.", she grumbled and stood beside Anko.

The two girls stared at him, neither one speaking, just staring. _Why do I get the feeling that I'm a mouse in a box with two snakes?_ Kakashi kept still as the atmosphere in the room continued to grow increasingly uncomfortable. _Damn it. Anko's doing this on purpose. She knows I hate situations like this. I have to say __something__. _He took a deep breath to clear his mind. "Morning."

He was unsure of the greeting he'd used and Kara's response didn't make it any better. "Afternoon."

"Oh." He glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. It showed 2:32pm. "Right."

Kara sighed, the heavy breath moved a stand of hair into her blind spot between her eyes. "Anko-san." Somehow just saying her name was a complete question that Kakashi didn't comprehend.

"I know. I know." Anko threw her arm around Kara and hugged her briefly. "Calm yourself, kiddo. You go on ahead. He'll meet up with you in a bit, kay?"

The young girl smiled and turned to crawl back out the window. "Hey." Kakashi reached out at Kara. "Wait." She stopped halfway through the window and turned to look at him. "What just happened? What's going on?"

Kara's smile was gone. Very 'matter of fact'-ly she answered him. "You're going to meet me at the training grounds and I'm going to fight you. Afterwards, I'm thinking I might let you try to apologize for hurting me… emotionally, cause I doubt you'll cause any real damage to me physically for lack of effort or ability."

He was slightly taken aback by her straightforwardness. _Wow. Wait a second. Did she just say that I'm not willing and/or capable of beating her in a fight? Geez, she really has spent too much time with Anko._ "Oh…"

"I'll see you there then." She again turned to leave.

"Actually, Kara…" Anko raised her pointer finger in an educating manner. "The Hokage wanted to see you briefly. You should stop by there first."

"Kay, Kay. Bye." She vaulted out the window, sick of being in the room for so long.

After witnessing Kara's quick escape, Kakashi turned back to Anko. "What's Tsunade want with her?"

"Paperwork. Nothing big." She glided back to Kakashi's side and took a seat on the bed again, pushing him to the side to make room. "Listen. These past two weeks have been really difficult for Kara. The second we got word that Tsunade-hime was on her way here to wake you up, Kara started psyching herself out to be able to talk to you. That whole 'you and I are gonna fight' speech was rehearsed… intensely. She didn't even do well with it. Not to mention, she and I have been training all this time--"

"About that." Kakashi interrupted her by gently placing his hand on top of hers. It was enough to shock her into an awkward silence. "I think that once I get this whole thing sorted out with Kara that maybe it would be wise for me to take the lead with any training, okay? … Anko?"

The woman's violent reaction was delayed for a moment as her brain processed a few wildly different thoughts. _His hand is awfully calloused for a man so effeminate… Why did I just think that?... Wait, did he say he doesn't want me mentoring Kara anymore?! Fuck him! …wait, no. Screw-- no, dammit. _"Like hell that's alright!" She stood and swung her open hand past his face. He only narrowly dodged. Given his current physical state, it was all instinct and luck. "I am her mentor. Not you! I thought we went over this when I agreed to pull her out of ANBU for you!"

"Yes. But you see…" Kakashi gingerly slid out of bed on the side opposite Anko. "That was before."

"Before? Before what?!" The enraged woman growled, already lifting her leg to stand on the bed and make her way to him.

Kakashi chose to err on the side of caution. With both eyes open, he continued to watch her movements warily. "Before there was any chance of Kara forgiving me. You heard her. After she fights me, she said that she'd let me apologize. That means--" He grabbed a chair and slid it in front of him, adding to the furniture between him and Anko. "--Calm down, Anko.-- That means that maybe she'll accept my apology. I really…" He took a breath. "I really hate that she hates me."

"That's your problem," She had made it over the bed and kicked the chair to the side. "Not mine. I like teaching Kara, dammit. She's talented and clever and fun and--and I'm not giving her up without a fight!" She lunged forward grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him into the wall behind him. With his Sharingan eye open, he saw it coming. He just wasn't recovered enough for it to have mattered.

"Ack! Anko, stop it! I'm still hurt!" He pushed back against her shoulders, doing nothing more than delaying the inevitable ass-kicking that she seemed so intent on delivering.

Then someone with perfect timing arrived. The door to the struggling Copy-ninja's left slid open and in walked Gai. The predator and her prey froze. "Ah, I thought I heard noises coming from in here. It's good to see you're up and about, rival." He stood still for a moment and stared at the, in his mind, intimate scene. Anko was about two inches too close to Kakashi for Gai to think that anything decent was occurring. "Oh… hmm, well. Sorry to have interrupted this… whatever 'this' is." He slowly started to back out of the room, a tad embarrassed.

_I can't believe I'm thinking this, but… Please don't leave Gai!_ Kakashi slipped out of Anko's grasp and scrambled out the door right behind Gai before it shut closed.

"Uh… shouldn't you stay in there?" Gai made a face at his rival.

Kakashi locked the door and cautiously took a step to the side in fear of Anko kicking it down. "Why?"

Gai pondered a few viable reasons before deciding on which one he wanted to use. "Well, you're in your underwear."

The fact gradually sunk into its intended target. "I won't say that's not a good reason, Gai. But there's no way I'm going back in there." _No way in hell am I going back in there with that bipolar, hormonal, psychotic freak! _As if on cue, the sound of something being thrown against the door made him wince.

"No worries! I always carry spare clothing." Gai whipped out one of his forest green, spandex leotards.

Kakashi stared at the hideous article of clothing for three seconds before casually opening the door to his hospital room and walking inside.

--

"You wished to see me, Hokage-sama?" Kara stood respectfully before the blonde woman.

Tsunade looked up from her tea and squinted at the young girl. "Hm? I did?"

"You wanted her to sign some papers for the registry, ma'am." Shizune found the file and presented it to the Hokage.

"Oh, right. Well, come here." She beckoned Kara come closer to sign the documents.

Shizune pushed a pen into the teenager's hand and had her signing the papers before she had finished reading them. "So, um…" She finished signing them. "What exactly were those for?" The papers were quickly handed off to another ninja for filing. Kara's eyes followed them as they left the room.

"Congratulations, kiddo." Tsunade grinned. "You've just been officially promoted to Chunnin."

Kara stared at her commander-in-chief blankly. "Come again?"

The older woman took another sip of her tea, though Kara was beginning to suspect that perhaps it was something a bit stronger. "You have two years of field experience, a great track record proving your ability to complete missions, received ANBU certification and are from a superior family line. The fact that you weren't promoted weeks ago is clearly an unfortunate oversight that has now been rectified. Be happy."

Kara pursed her lips together and slowly absorbed the facts. _All of that is true. Even the part about a superior family line, though I hate to admit it. Hn, guess I have earned this. It's just a bit… sudden._ "I don't have to wear that tacky green vest, do I?"

"What's so tacky about it?" Shizune crossed her arms slightly offended. She wore that vest whenever she went out on missions for the village.

"Green's not really my color." Kara pinched the corner of her form-fitting, dark red shirt and emphasized the fact that she was clearly a 'summer', not a 'winter'.

"'Course you don't." Tsunade hiccupped as she reached across her desk for a medical history book. "Just hang it in your closet and keep it as a trophy. That's what I did with mine. Haven't worn it in over a decade."

Shizune discreetly removed her mistress's drink from her desk. It was obvious she had had enough. "That's all we needed you for Kara. You're dismissed."

Tsunade turned on her assistant. "Since when do you get to dismiss people? I'm the Hokage. I dismiss people."

"My apologies, Tsunade-sama." The subservient woman bowed deeply.

"You are dismissed." The busty old woman casually waved Kara out of the room. With a light chuckle, the young girl complied and quietly left to meet her estranged uncle at the training grounds.

--

Kakashi took a deep breath. He was sitting atop one of the two water towers on the roof of the building where Naruto and Sasuke had just had a rather dramatic fight. _Sasuke's getting to be too much. He's holding onto the past too tightly. Tch… I still can't believe he used Chidori against Naruto. Granted, Naruto used Rasengan, but still… it shouldn't have gotten so heated. _Jiraiya had just left, agreeing to talk to Naruto, leaving him Sasuke to deal with. He jumped down and treated Sakura to some kind words to stop her from crying before heading off to find his vengeful student.

He wasn't hard to find. Sasuke sat brooding on an exposed tree branch, high above street level. Before he knew what was going on, he found himself tightly bound to the tree trunk. Kakashi jumped down to stand in front of him, holding the controlling end of the binding string in his left hand. "What's with the wire, sensei?!"

"I couldn't risk you running off while I talk to you." The copy-ninja spoke plainly. He really had run out of patience with the boy, but he didn't quite have it in him to completely forsake the child. "Put simply, you need to give up on this whole revenge plot. You'll only end up hurting yourself. Even if you do succeed and kill your brother, you won't get any satisfaction out of it."

Sasuke tensed against his bonds and growled out. "Shut up! What the hell do you know about any of this?!"

"Breathe, Sasuke. Breathe." Kakashi sighed, doing his best to keep this a discussion and not an argument.

The enraged boy would have none of it. "I could kill the person most precious to you. Then, maybe you'd understand."

"I see where your logic is there." He continued to do his best to keep the conversation calm. Though, the little Uchiha was wearing on his last nerve. "But I don't have anyone special. They've all already been killed."

For a second, Sasuke thought he had been outdone. Then it struck him. A slow, sinister grin crossed his darkened features. "What about Kara?"

Kakashi kept silent. Consciously or not, he pulled on the wire binding the child to the tree's trunk, letting it gradually dig further into the flesh of his arms. "You wouldn't kill her. You couldn't." The boy sneered confidently, but the older man saw it for what it was; a bluff. "Deny it all you want, but I know you don't have it in you to do such a thing. Not to her." _As much as I hate to admit it, the two of them have a connection. I'm not quite sure of what nature, but it's there._

_He's right. I couldn't hurt her. It's too irritating to me for some reason when she gets hurt. I certainly wouldn't want to be the cause. But I don't have to hurt her to hurt him. _Knowing his bold statement was exaggerated, he caved, but only slightly. "Maybe not. But it doesn't mean I couldn't take her away from you."

"You don't have that kind of power, Sasuke." Kakashi released the boy from his hold and glared down at him. _I just need to tell him what I need to tell him and then get the hell out of here. I hope Kara will still be waiting for me._ "Listen, you've got friends here. People who care about you. That thing you pulled earlier with Naruto was out of line. Chidori is something I taught you so that you could protect your comrades, not hurt them…. Don't let me catch you using it against one of them ever again, alright?"

Sasuke's dark eyes refused to look up at the man and give him any kind of acknowledgement that his message had been received.

"Just think about what I've said." Kakashi turned and left, not bothering to wait around for an answer that would never come.

--

The last rays of the evening sun warmed Kara as she lay out on a low, bare tree branch. Guruko was lying on her stomach, listening to her pulse. The other seven dogs were scattered around beneath and above them. They all either had their ears to the ground or their noses to the air, waiting anxiously for any sign of Kakashi's approach. They hadn't been allowed into the hospital to visit him and they all missed him terribly. Kara, in her over-confidence, assured them that this would probably be the best time for them to see him, since she would be sending him right back to the hospital after their battle royal.

Urushi's head popped up from the dirt. "I hear him." The other dogs snapped to attention, listening for his approach and catching his scent on the wind.

Kara kept still, only allowing her eyes to loll to the side and catch sight of the sun's position. _Two hours… he kept me waiting for two fucking hours. Ain't that nice._

"Kakashi!" Guruko stood up and launched himself off of Kara to land in his master's arms. "Oh! I'm so happy to see you!" The puppy snuggled deeper, pawing at his vest, wanting to curl up against him.

"I'm happy to see all of you too." He knelt down and greeted the pack as they closed in around him.

Pakkun was the last to see him. "It's good to see you on your feet."

"Thanks." Kakashi scratched the little pug behind the ears, just the way he knew he liked it.

After enjoying the good scratching, Pakkun stretched out and signaled the dogs to file out and leave the two humans alone. "Do us proud." He whispered to his master. Kakashi nodded, ready to face Kara. "Seriously, I've got twenty bucks riding on you." The small dog scampered off after the other canines.

"They looked good." Kakashi called up to Kara.

She didn't move, but answered him with her eyes still on the ever falling sun. "I've been taking care of them in your absence."

"Thank you." He took a step toward her, trying to coax her into glancing in his direction.

"Hn. I didn't do it for you. I did it for them." Kara sighed and sat up, swinging her legs to the side. She now sat perched up in the tree looking down at the Jounin. "You've kept me waiting for quite a while, sempai. What, may I ask, took you so long?"

Kakashi didn't even hesitate to answer her truthfully. "Anko wanted to talk to me a bit more. Then as soon as I was dressed, I left to meet you. But there was a fight that I had to break up. After that, I had a short lecture to give. That was just a few minutes ago. I came straight over here."

Kara was less than impressed with his well organized speech. "Are you giving me every detail of your afternoon because you're trying to fix that impression of being a liar that you have with me?"

The answer to her second question was a bit more taxing to answer, but he did anyway. "Sort of… I suppose." She just glared at him for a moment before sliding off her perch and landing just feet away from him. "About that letter… Kara let me explain."

"I don't want an explanation. I want an apology." She brought her hands together, focusing her chakra for the impending fight. "And I want it after I kick your ass."

Before Kakashi could even attempt to reason with her, she vanished. He sighed. His tiresome day was about to get worse. _Why, oh why, did Jiraiya-sama teach her this stupid ninjutsu?_ He listened intently, waiting for her to strike. The wait wasn't long. He raised his arm up to block a near silent right jab. _Ow… that actually kind of hurt. _Kakashi jumped backward, dodging what his ears perceived to be something along the lines of Gai's Lotus Technique.

"Quit moving and fight back!" Kara's voice echoed loudly around him. In that moment, he had no idea where she was and she took full advantage of that fact. The fiery young girl dropped her Toton jutsu and threw a solid red-lightning infused punch at her target. It connected, but not with Kakashi. Instead, a log split in half vertically; her fist going straight through it.

_She's definitely improved with Chidori since the Exam Finals._ Kakashi watched her carefully from a safe distance. After busting through the substitution, Kara paused. _What is she doing now?_ The Copy-ninja grew tired of watching her stand still and not understanding what her strategy was. He lifted his headband and watched her with his Sharingan, hoping to catch her actions and glean from them her plans. _What? Still nothing? She really is just standing there. But that doesn't make any sense._ He lowered his headband again, not seeing the need for it anymore.

Kara crossed her arms obstinately. "If you want me to forgive you, sempai… you'll fight back."

_She can't be serious? She knows as well as I do that even in my weakened condition, there's no way she could hope to beat me. She's still just a child._

"I'm leaving in thirty seconds, if you don't attack me." Her words were definite.

_Fine, Kara. But I'm only doing this because I care about you._ Kakashi silently procured a kunai and sent it flying through the leaves, aimed directly at her heart.

"Pathetic." Kara heard the attack before she saw it. She quickly threw a counter-attack.

Kara's kunai connected with his, sending both weapons in random, harmless directions. _Not bad. But nothing of a particularly high caliber. _Kakashi remained seated, calm and unimpressed with her until he noticed that her right hand was tightly held in a fist. _Why is she…?_ She twitched her thumb as though she were pressing against something in her grasp. He followed the angle of her hand until he finally turned his head to his right. That's when he noticed it. _Now that… that's impressive._ His right eye widened slightly as he considered how she had managed to hide a needle in the shadow of her counter-attack and attach a wire to it without him noticing it before it made its mark.

Buried a good two inches into the tree trunk beside him was the thin needle attached to a near-invisible wire. Very tentatively, Kakashi reached up to touch the string. _That's odd. This isn't normal thread. It's metallic._ The last rays of the setting sun pierced through the leaves long enough for him to notice the wire's brownish-gold luster. _It's copper. Why did she set up… copper?_ The conclusion struck him just in the nick of time. He used a quick teleportation jutsu to escape the impending electrocution.

From Kara's fist, a burst of red lightning, her Akerakuri attack custom altered for a long distance, precision shot. It scorched everything within a five foot radius of the copper wire, right up to the tree trunk it was embedded in. Of course, the point of the tree with the needle stabbing into it, took the brunt of the attack. She had ignited the inner rings of the tree. It was burning from the inside out. The pressure inside continued to build until finally the plant burst, sending shards of smoldering firewood in all directions. Kara caught one of a decent size; that of a small torch, one end holding a healthy flame.

Kakashi walked out from behind the large stone he had used for shelter from the exploding tree. He found himself within ten feet of Kara. She stood there with a smug grin on her face and a small burning piece of wood in her hand. "How about we call it a draw, Kara-chan?" He asked her in a placating tone. He really was not in a fighting mood.

Kara chuckled much like Anko did when she felt she had the upper hand. "I'll stop attacking you when you make me stop."

_I knew I'd live to regret asking Anko to so much as look after you._ He pulled another kunai out of his pack and got ready to charge.

The young girl too, reached into her pack. Only, she pulled out a small, sealed bottle. Without a pause, she lifted it to her mouth and bit the cork; spitting it out to the side.

A scent Kakashi recognized filled the smoky, dark air of the forest around them. "Is that sake?"

"Yup." She held it close to her mouth.

"Where in the hell did you get sake? You're underage!" He all but forgot about the fight he was in the middle of and started marching over to take it away from her. "Give it here, right now."

He stopped his approach when she waved the torch in her right hand in front of him. "I wouldn't if I were you. This is strong stuff." Kara snickered. "And I got it from the Hokage." She let the statement sink in to him. The look of confusion on his face was entertaining to her. "Or rather that assistant of hers. She really does not know how to keep an eye on things."

"You stole it?" Kakashi stood speechless. His arms went lax.

"Sensei always said I was rebellious." She shrugged her shoulders. "Guess he was right about me." She quickly took a swig of the strong liquor, but didn't swallow. Instead, she spit it right back out in a fine mist over the improvised torch in her hand. The fireball completely engulfed the area in front of her; the area where Kakashi was standing. When her fuel ran out, she moved the torch so that she could look to see if she had gotten him. There was nothing to see.

"No such luck, I'm afraid." Kakashi stood behind her. Her left fist, sake bottle in hand, flew up with the intention of smashing him over the head with it. He deftly caught her by the wrist and twisted her arm around. While she was still in shock over her near instant capture, he also grabbed her right forearm and knocked the torch from her grasp.

"Ugh! Let go of me!" She screeched, fighting back with enough strength that Kakashi found in necessary to have to knock her to the ground face down. Kara continued to growl like some kind of feral child.

"No. Not till you accept that the fight is over." He kept a knee on her back to make sure she didn't make it back to her feet.

She continued to protest. "It's not fair! You weren't even paying attention! How did you sneak up behind me?!"

"Well…" He looked down on her kindly. "You made the same mistake Anko makes when I spar with her. You believe me when I look like I'm not paying attention anymore. You were too caught up in your own dramatic display to notice I was faking."

"Tch… so you really don't give a damn about me having alcohol?" Kara half laughed, half sneered.

"Oh, no. I do care." He held the bottle so she could watch as he poured it out on the ground. "You are way too young to have this. Even if it is just to use as fuel for your pyromania." He threw the empty bottle off to the side and smiled down at her. "So. I won. Fight's over?"

She huffed a few more times and tried to knock him off of her to no avail before she calmed down and admitted defeat. "Yes. Fine. You win. The fight is over."

"Finally." He backed off, letting her sit up on her own. "Kara…"

"Hn?" She brushed some forest debris off of her clothes as she scooted away from him to lean back against a tree stump. She eventually looked up to see him sitting across from her when he didn't say anything else.

Now that he had her full attention, he spoke. "I'm sorry."

Kara sat there silent, having a hard time looking directly at him. She knew what the first thought that crossed her mind had been when she heard his words, but shame and embarrassment kept her from saying anything in return. _I forgive you._

Kakashi couldn't stand the simple apology as it stood. He was dying to explain his point of view to her exactly. "Can I please explain?"

_Of course you can! I want to know everything! _"Well, I suppose…. You did apologize like I asked you to." Kara crossed her arms with a very spoiled look on her face. Not that it was terribly noticeable in the poor lighting of the forest. The sun had set minutes ago, leaving them in an after dusk glow. A half dozen burning piles of wood from Kara's exploded tree helped so that the location wasn't unbearably dark.

"I've known that you were my niece since you were a baby." He raised his hand to stop her from reacting to the statement. She had already unfolded her arms and opened her mouth to protest. "Please. Let me explain everything before you say anything. I let you have your fight. Let me have this."

Kara closed her mouth and settled back down, nodding her head for him to continue. "I was around your age when you were born. I didn't know what to do with that kind of information. The Third Ninja War was still raging and I was a soldier. There was no way I could have taken you in. I wasn't capable of caring for you. But, to be honest, I didn't want to care for you either." He again raised his hand to her, afraid she was going to react violently to that statement as well.

She did nothing but continue to stare at him, listening intently. Satisfied she was going to stay that way, he went on. "I was a young teenage boy. I didn't want to raise a baby girl." Kara nodded. She understood what he meant. "By the time the war ended, you were already a toddler. The people that cared for you even let me see you a few times, but you don't remember that do you?"

Kara shook her head back and forth. She had absolutely no recollection of that whatsoever.

"Before I knew it, you were starting at the Ninja Academy. You had a lot of trouble with bullies, but do you remember how often you managed to evade them?" Her eyebrows furrowed together slightly. She did remember that they rarely caught her outside of school. She could count the number of times on her hands. "That was because I was there. I couldn't talk to you. It would have been weird for me and it probably would have hurt you, so I just watched over you every chance I had. I ran interference for you. And then… then you just showed up at my house one day." He took a moment to breathe and relax. He couldn't believe he had managed to make it so far through his story. Though, this left Kara sitting on pins and needles.

"I was stunned when I saw you run out the front door. I didn't know what to think. Actually, I don't think I was thinking. I just remember that before I knew it, you were gone and my first impression was one of the worst in all of history. And then Pakkun… god, that was awful." He suppressed a laugh when he noticed that Kara's face remained a blank slate. "The rest, you know. You were there. I kept waiting for the right time to tell you, but in hindsight, I don't think there ever was one."

Kara raised her hand and pushed her bangs back behind her ear. "What about the letter?"

Kakashi's eye widened in surprise. He couldn't believe he had forgotten about the letter. "Right, the letter. I… well, I don't really know about it except that it made you hate me for not telling you that I'm your uncle." Those last three words felt both unbelievably foreign and so natural. "I had one too; but-uh… there was an accident that resulted in it getting thrown away before I could read it." He scratched just under his left eye a bit nervously. Remembering the past was calling up old physical memories.

For the first time since he had started talking, Kara's face showed some emotion. "Do you wanna read mine?"

"Huh?" He looked at her not knowing how to respond to a question like that.

"Here." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope. "I want you to read it." Kara crawled closer to him, closing the distance between them, and handed him the letter.

Reluctantly, Kakashi reached out and took the envelope from her. "It's too dark to read." He mumbled. Five seconds later he noticed that Kara had rushed over and grabbed a handful of the burning tree debris, creating a small, bright fire beside them. "Okay then." He read the faded name 'Kara-hime' on the front of the envelope. It had been over thirteen years since he had last held this letter.

"I meant for you to read it now." Kara urgently whispered to him.

He nodded and opened the envelope, unfolding the letter quickly, but slowly digesting the words.

--Letter from Akane to Kara--

Hello my darling Pumpkin! That's what I've been calling you because you've been inhabiting my stomach and it looks like I'm trying to steal a giant pumpkin under my shirt when I wear orange. Umm… I've never had to write a letter like this before. But for you, I'll try. Kara... I'm 42.5 percent sure your father's surname is Harada. I don't know anything else about him… I drank way too much that night, my bad. My name is Hatake Akane. Or rather it was… sorry, that sounds so depressing. I wasn't much of anything in my time. I left home at a young age for a stupid reason. I made bad choices and I'm paying the price for them. Unfortunately, you're going to pay for them too and I am so sorry for that. But don't be sad. I know this letter is probably really crappy and I'm sorry for that too. Geez… It sounds like I'm being vague, but the truth of the matter is that my life has been pretty plain and mediocre until you came along.

Wait… let me start over. I really wish I could make this letter sound good but I wasn't the genius in my family. That title definitely belongs to my little brother. God, I really hope you're smart. And I hope you're healthy… I already know you're going to be beautiful. That's a given.

Boy, this letter is really getting away from me, but I just wanted you to know how much I love you. It's sad, but I don't think parents say that enough to their children. What's sadder is that I don't think I'll be around long enough to tell you myself. So… don't cry. I've done enough of that for the both of us. I want you to be happy. No. I want you to be more than happy. I want you to have a life full of joy! So, if you get the chance to have joy in your life, you better take it. Listen to your mother. I know best.

So many thoughts are flying through my mind. It's so hard to organize them all. There's so much I want you to know, so much I want to tell you, but the words are just too fast for me to catch. Oh! Keep in mind that you're never alone. I brought you back to Konoha because we have family there… here… sorry, I don't know the proper term to use there… here? Do mind your uncle. I wrote to him too, but on the off chance that he's still a moody, little snot and did something rash and stupid, (seems to run in the family if you ask me… I really hope you're smart!) tell him I'll love him for forever and a day if he watches out for you. Though, I'm sure you'll have no trouble tying him around your little finger on your own. As far as I can recall, Kakashi is a real sucker for people in need.

Anyways, the doctor is telling me that I need to get some rest and I think I've hit all the main points I wanted to hit.

Please remember that I'll always love you, pumpkin.

All the love in my heart, Mama.

--End of Letter--

After several minutes of reading and re-reading every last line of the letter, Kakashi finally folded it back up and put it back in its envelope. He slowly looked up to see Kara's face. She was kneeling there with quiet tears trickling down her cheeks. He was stuck with a pang of empathy and reached out to her. "Kara…" She instantly fell forward and hugged him as tightly as she could. "Hey, are you okay?" He pushed her back just enough to see her face. He found the brightest smile on her, stunning him for a moment.

"My mom was a ditz, wasn't she?" Kara chuckled as she did her best to wipe away her tears with her one free hand. She kept the other tightly wrapped around her uncle, not quite ready to let him go.

He faltered for a moment. "Ah, well… I don't think…" The girl stared at him, expecting an honest answer. "Maybe just slightly." Kara began to giggle, making it all the easier for her to clear her eyes of tears.

"Oh man. This letter is horrible!" She wretched the envelope from his hand and held it out in front of her. "She's only 42.5 percent sure of who my father is?!"

"Actually, she says that she's 42.5 percent sure of his surname. It kind of implies that it could be any number of men with the same surname. Like a bunch of brothers and cousins or something." Kakashi felt he needed to explain this to Kara.

She nodded her head, pitifully holding back a laugh. "Oh, well. That makes everything so much better."

"Yeah, okay. That makes it worse." He chuckled with her. "But hey, she loved you enough that she wanted you to know the truth, right?"

"Yes. That's true." She took a moment to readjust herself so she was sitting on his lap. Think, a child about three years too old to sit on Santa's knee. "And now," she wiped the last of her tears away and put the letter back in her pack. "On to you."

Any small smile Kakashi may have had under his mask instantly dissolved. "Me?" He glanced down at her hand. It was clasped around the collar of his vest. _I thought we already covered 'me'!_

"No running from my question, got it?" She glowered at him. He put a brave, undeterred face on and nodded in understanding. "M'kay… Do you want me as your niece?"

He tilted his head slightly at the odd question. "Well, I don't really have a choice. You are my niece, by blood. That's a fact, completely undisputable." Kara did not find the answer as amusing as he may have intended it to sound and it showed on her face. "Yes. Of course I want you. The only reason you thought that I didn't was because… well, I'm not sure. But your thoughts are your own fault, not mine." She continued to glare at him. "It's not my fault you wouldn't talk to me sooner. I'll admit, I messed up, but I only ever did what I thought was right for both of us. What more do you want me to say?"

"Nothing." Kara's stare quickly softened with her giggle. "I just like watching you squirm. Anko-san is right. It is fun. And a lot easier than people realize."

"Kay…" He pushed her off of him. "First off, you have an advantage to getting under my skin. Secondly… about Anko being your mentor."

"Oh? What about her?" Kara prodded the small campfire beside them. "You know, I still get mad at her at times, but she's not that bad once you get used to her."

"I just don't think you need her anymore. At least not in a mentoring capacity."

She turned back to look at him. "I couldn't agree with you more."

"Really?"

"Yup. I'm so ready to go back to ANBU now." She stood and stared down at him. "But we can discuss how you're going to get me reinstated in the morning. I have had a long, long day. Goodnight sempai." She knelt down and hugged him as tightly as she could before turning to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." Kakashi sighed as he kicked dirt over the dying fire. _You are so __not__ going back to ANBU. _He mimicked her voice in his head. _She rushed out of here rather quickly. Wonder what her hurry was._

--

"Aw, come on! You have got to be kidding me! It's not even all that late! Ugh!" Kara stood; shoulders slumped forward as she had arrived just five minutes after closing at the restaurant she wanted take-out from. Her stomach growled in protest. Had she known that Kakashi was going to take his dear sweet time in meeting her, she might have decided to grab a snack earlier. "Hush…" She patted her distraught digestive system. "I'll just go to bed and eat a big breakfast in the morning to make up for this."

Kara walked along the nearly deserted streets of Konoha. It really wasn't all that late as she had exclaimed at the closed restaurant, but many shopkeepers had chosen to close early because today had been the Hokage's first day in office; an unofficial holiday to them for some reason. Kara happened to be crossing the only road that led out of the village as she made her way home, when movement caught her eye. She paused and looked to see Sakura's pink hair fluttering slightly in the breeze. _Hm? What's she doing out so late by herself?_ The fact that the girl was lying on a park bench, motionless, was enough to pique Kara's interest.

"Hey, Sakura-chan." Kara walked up beside her. "Hey. Are you really asleep?" She grabbed the girl by the arm and lightly shook her. No response. She was out cold. "Hn. You're not really the type to take a nap in the street." Kara took a step back and looked down the road. She could just make out the outline of a young boy. _No… there's no way… Sasuke?_

She broke out in a sprint and caught up to him in no time. "Did you do that to Sakura?" In her mind there was no point in a proper greeting.

"Mmhm." He continued walking.

Kara was dumbstruck. She knew he was an ass most times, but to knock out his own teammate and then leave her on a park bench. That had to be uncalled for. "Mind telling me why?" She grabbed him by the arm and forcibly stopped him from continuing on.

He spun around and ripped his arm free of her grasp, shooting her a deadly glare. "I'm leaving. She was going to make it difficult. You're not going to scream too, are you?"

Silence. Even Kara's mind went blank. He was rude, arrogant, self-righteous and conceited. But he wasn't… this. And it left her speechless. His sneer finally began to fade and her mouth snapped back into working order. "What the hell has gotten into you?!" She shoved him backward with an aggressive snarl to match his attitude toward her.

"Hn. You're just like them. You don't understand." He took a deep breath and lifted his chin haughtily. _…who the hell am I kidding? She's nothing like Sakura. Sakura cried and begged for me to stay. Kara just pushed me… it kinda hurt..._

Kara would have none of it. "Look. I don't know what brought this on nor do I care to know, but I don't like it. So cut it out." _My day went from crap to awesome. I'll be damned if this little prick ruins that for me._

"Fine by me." He took another step backwards from her. "……" _Should I say 'bye'?_

His pause and confused look was upsetting her. _Why are you staring at me like that? _"What are you doing out here?"

"I already told you. I'm leaving." But instead of doing so, Sasuke continued to stand there awkwardly strumming his fingers along the strap of his backpack.

"What do you mean 'leaving'?" Kara was playing dumb on purpose. A part of her had already figured it out. She just didn't want to believe something so outrageous. Then again, the fact that she was related to Kakashi was pretty outrageous too and she believed that. "Like on a mission? In the middle of the night?"

Sasuke squinted his eyes in disbelief. _No way she's that dense._ "No. Not on a mission. I'm leaving the village. I'm defecting to Orochimaru."

"You can't… I mean… You just can't. It can't be done. You don't 'leave' the village." Kara blurted the words without thinking. "Did you say Orochimaru? Why would you want to go to him? After what he did to you…" She had a hard time picking her jaw up off the ground.

"That's exactly why I'm going to him." _Why is she having such a hard time understanding this?_ He took two steps toward her, closing the gap to get a good look at her face as he explained himself. Why he felt the need to explain himself, it's difficult to know. "He gave me this curse mark. He gave me power."

Kara's usually soft face became hard and fixed. This was wrong. So very wrong. "Power? That's why you're leaving? For Power?"

Sasuke slightly raised his voice at her. "Yes, for power. I have to be stronger. I will have my vengeance."

"But… ugh…" She looked away and rubbed her tired eyes. "Can't you get that here? Isn't there some way you could become stronger here? Some way that doesn't involve that monster?"

…_yeah. There is one way. But I… I can't._ The Uchiha didn't answer her question for several seconds. "There's no other path for me. At least not one I'm willing to take."

"Willing? Wait, no. Whatever it is, it has to be a better alternative to Orochimaru." Kara shook her head definitely. Anko had opened up to her, if only slightly, about her time as the Snake Sannin's pupil. Just the thought of anyone walking into that fiend's clutches of their own free will upset her stomach.

"It's not." He continued to feel compelled to talk to her. "My eyes…" They drifted away from Kara. "There's not enough hate in them. Without it, I'm no match for my brother."

"Who…? Who would tell you something like that? That's awful." Kara reached out and touched his shoulder kindly.

Sasuke raised his hand and placed it on top of hers. "It's what my brother told me. He told me how to get eyes like his… but I can't. I won't." _I could have killed Naruto this afternoon. I don't think I've ever regretted anything more in my life. _"I refuse to do things his way. I've found my own path to attaining power and it doesn't involve… that."

"Involve what?" Kara was hooked into the boy's story. The moment he mentioned his brother, there was no way she could leave without knowing everything. "Tell me." Her fingers tensed, gripping the sleeve of his shirt.

He looked tired and angry. His gaze finally returned to Kara's face. "Involve killing my best friend." The girl's eyes slowly widened as she put together the puzzle that was his Hell. "I won't do that. So I'm leaving to find the only other way to attain the power I need to avenge my clan. Tell me you understand that."

Kara gently relaxed her hand and let it slip from his shoulder. He held onto it and the two of them stood there in relative silence, his desperate hand supporting her weak one. "Yes. I understand." She stared into his eyes. "But Orochimaru… you must know he has no intention of letting you have your… revenge." She hated the sound of the word on her tongue; Revenge. "He only wants to use you."

"And instead, I will use him. I'm no fool." He squeezed her hand to get his point across.

The action didn't really do much to reassure her. _This is so wrong! He's going to get himself killed!_ "It's just too dangerous. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're just a kid. You don't stand a chance against ninja like those you seem so eager to join."

"If it's so dangerous, why don't you come with me?" The words tumbled out of his mouth before he had realized he'd said them. While holding her hand, he'd noticed half of her ANBU tattoo sticking out from under her sleeve. _Whoa, whoa, whoa… why in the hell did I just say that?! I can't believe I just asked her to come with me!_

_I can't believe he just asked me to go with him!_ Kara stood there in a daze.

Sasuke quickly came to terms with what his subconscious was trying to tell him. _I told you sensei… I could take her away from you. Then you'd understand._ "You watch my back and I'll watch yours."

The full moon came out from behind the clouds. White moonlight reflected off of her silver hair as she violently pulled her hand out of his grasp. "You can't be serious." She growled. "How can you expect me to go with you and just sit and watch when that horrible excuse for a human being takes over your body? …no. I could never go where you're headed."

An indignant scowl crossed his face. Rejection, from Kara especially, hurt. _Hn. Guess sensei was right… Maybe I don't have any power over Kara at all._ "So then, what are you going to do, Kara?" His eyes dared her to make the same threat Sakura had; to scream and draw attention from some passing night patrol, stopping him from making the biggest mistake of his life.

The teenage girl stood there, her hands balled up into tightly held fists at her sides. "I guess this is goodbye." Her voice was coarse and reflected an internal conflict. She knew he was dead-set on killing his brother. She also knew deep down he was a good person. That's why he was leaving. He couldn't bear to kill Naruto, his best friend, as a means of obtaining power. Instead he would seek out the cruel Orochimaru and risk losing everything.

"Yeah. I guess it is." He was both pleasantly surprised and disappointed that she wasn't going to try and stop him. With her, it was difficult for him to tell if she cared so much she would let him go or if she cared so little it didn't matter to her. "Goodbye Kara."

"Goodbye Sasuke."

--To Be Continued--

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**0_o What the What? Are ya'll's heads spinning? I know; lots went down in this one. Just breathe.**

**Betcha didn't think I was ever going to use Kara's skills as a fire-breather ever again, eh? I didn't think so either. Then next thing I knew, she had stolen sake from under Shizune and Tsunade's noses. Sneaky little bugaboo… then again, she's not so little anymore is she? Fourteen and just two months from turning fifteen. ( I say that because according to The Great Naruto Timeline, the date at the end of this chapter is September 8. Remember Kara's birthday? No? It's the 11 of November; same as Jiraiya-sama… and yours truly ^^ )**

**Did You Know?: There are 45 favs and 54 alerts set on this story as of this chapter's posting. And based off of my mad math skills, I've only got a 10-18 percent review rate… just thought I'd throw that out there. REVIEW! (You guys know how much I appreciate the feedback)**

**BTW: Check out my main profile page to vote in my poll! It's for Kara's Arc. I need to decide where I want to send her.**


	19. Perjurer

**Wow… talk about feeling loved! I got so many AMAZING reviews last chapter. I'm positively floored that there are so many people reading and actually liking this story. I know. I know… I need to get over it already. I'm starting to sound like an overly humble Academy Award winner or something. Kay, I'm over it… for now.**

**^///^ yeah… I'm totally a fangirl of my own version of Sasuke now. It's embarrassing… more so than a few chapters back when I became a Gai fangirl. Damn, I'm good. If I can sell either of these characters, I could probably sell the Devil some holy water.**

**Yay! Tenzou cameo! I felt like he was being neglected, so I just threw him in near the end. He will eventually get more screen time when they start calling him Captain Yamato. I didn't want ya'll to forget about him.**

**Yes… Perjurer is a word. It's a fancy way of saying Liar. It just sounds nicer in my head.  


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Chapter 19: Perjurer

"SASUKE!" Sakura shot up from the park bench she had been sleeping on. The frantic look on her face eventually faded and she regained her wits. "..ah, Kara-chan! Why are you…? Where's Sasuke?!"

Kara was sitting at the far end of the bench. She was staring at her feet with her forearms resting on her knees; the nails of her pointer fingers dug deeply into her thumbs' cuticles. It was obvious that she hadn't slept at all last night. "What do you mean 'where's Sasuke'?" She had spent the entire night thinking about what had changed and how it was going to affect people, herself mostly. As a ninja of Konoha, she was guilty of letting him leave without doing everything in her power to stop him. Call it selfish, but she didn't want to face the consequences. She didn't see why she should have to. She did the right thing in her mind. It was the right thing to let him leave.

Sakura scrambled across to sit beside Kara. The distraught, young girl relayed her last conversation with Sasuke, breaking down in tears by the end of her tale. "What do we do?" She sniffled and did her best to stay as calm as Kara looked.

"Don't worry. I'll go and tell the Hokage what you told me. She'll know what to do." Kara quietly stood and walked away, leaving Sakura sitting there alone, dried tears staining her weary face. _Life just keeps getting harder and harder, doesn't it? Sakura's gonna have to toughen up if she wants to survive. Heh… I wonder if I'm tough enough myself._

Kara let herself into the Hokage's office. It was less than an hour after the sun had risen and she found the blonde woman sleeping in her chair, a line of drool leading from her mouth to the desk she rested her head on. "A-hem…" She rapped her fingers on the desk and woke her.

"…hm? Oh." Tsunade calmly woke up and stretched out her arms. "Good morning… Kara was it?"

"Yes, ma'am." The girl offered her a tissue to wipe away the spittle on her chin. "Good morning."

The Hokage took the assistance and freshened up as best she could with a tissue. She looked up at Kara just standing there silent and appearing to be in deep thought. "Is there something you wanted, kiddo?"

She nodded her head solemnly. _This shouldn't be difficult. The hard part was last night… the hard part was saying goodbye._ "Uchiha Sasuke is gone."

It took Tsunade a moment to register the words. "Run that by me one more time. I think I might have missed some context or something."

"No, ma'am. You didn't miss anything. He's gone; left the village last night. I think it's a safe bet he's going to Orochimaru." Kara hid her hands behind her back. She was pretty sure her thumbs were bleeding by now.

"What! How do you know this?!" The woman shot up to her feet demanding answers.

Kara kept her face placid. "Haruno Sakura informed me of this just ten minutes ago. I found her unconscious on a park bench this morning. She says that she caught him on his way out of the village last night and tried to stop him, but it was pointless." _Wow, this is a new low for me. Delivering a bare-faced lie to the Hokage as though it were fact. Technically, it's just a lie by omission… but I won't split hairs._

_Dammit! Orochimaru sure isn't wasting any time._ "Very well." She placed her hands on her desk and leaned forward as she made a decision regarding what steps should be taken next. "Kara."

"Ma'am?" She was itching to leave, not wanting anything to do with this anymore. She'd done what she had aimed to do. Inform the Hokage, which was enough to cover her ass.

"I think it's time I assign you your first mission as a team's captain."

Kara's eyes widened and showed the first bit of emotion since she had entered the office. "I-I can't. Ma'am, shouldn't a mission like this involve more experienced ninja? Jonin and Chunnin in the least?"

"Every available, high ranking operative has already been assigned a mission. Our forces are stretched too thin. You just so happen to be one of only two Chunnin who I can spare to send out on a mission like this. You may assemble a team of available Genin; as many as you think you'll need. I want you in pursuit of Uchiha Sasuke within the next thirty minutes." Tsunade sat back down. Kara wasn't moving. "Did you not hear me, soldier? I said 'Go'."

Kara took what she feared would be her last breath before looking the woman in the eye. "No."

"…no? This mission is not a choice. I'm ordering you to complete it." Hellfire burned in her eyes. Unfortunately, it couldn't touch Kara.

"Ma'am…" The teenager didn't want to cause trouble, but she couldn't go after Sasuke after letting him go the night before. She didn't have it in her. "I can't."

"Care to explain yourself?" Tsunade's growl caused her to tremble on the inside.

She shook her head back and forth slowly. "I just can't. Please Tsunade-sama. Give this assignment to the other Chunnin you said was available. Please let me decline this one mission. I swear to you, it will be the only mission I ever refuse for as long as I live."

Tsunade was a bit taken aback by Kara's earnest begging. The girl looked about ready to drop to her knees. _What on Earth could have caused this? _Her face still drawn up in a scowl, she responded. "Fine. But I'll hold you to your word. Never again will you refuse any mission I assign you. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am. I understand. Thank you." Kara breathed a sigh of relief and bowed reverently to her superior. _Oh thank god…_

Shizune walked into the office. Before she could get her bearings Tsunade was already snapping out an order at her. "Shizune!" She picked up a sheet of paper and searched for a certain name. "I need you to bring… Nara Shikamaru here right now."

"Yes Tsunade-hime." As quickly as she came, Shizune left again.

"What are you still doing here?" The Hokage sniped at Kara.

The girl's attention had been internal since she had been let off the hook for this assignment. "Oh… uh, nothing ma'am." She took a step back and realized the woman wanted her to leave. "Thank you again Tsunade-sama. You won't regret it." Kara spun around and briskly exited the office.

"No, I won't." Tsunade leaned back into her chair. "No. I. Won't."

--

Having convinced herself that what she really needed was some good sleep, Kara had headed off in the direction of her apartment. At about the halfway mark, she ran into Sakura again.

"Kara-chan! What did the Hokage say? What's going to happen? Is someone going to bring Sasuke back?" The pink-haired girl hardly gave her a chance to speak.

"Calm down." Kara put her hands up and waved for the girl to breathe. "I talked to Tsunade-sama. She's decided to dispatch a Search and Retrieval squad."

Sakura's green eyes stared at her harshly. "Don't you mean Search and Rescue?"

She shook her head back and forth as an answer to her question. _He wasn't kidnapped. I don't think it counts as a rescue if the person doesn't want to come back._ "I think the captain is going to be Shikamaru. He'll get to take along as many of the genin as he needs. They're supposed to be leaving within the next fifteen minutes or so." Kara pointed over her shoulder. "If you hurry, you can catch them at the main gate."

"Oh… thank you." Sakura took a few steps past the fourteen year old before pausing and looking back at her. "You've always been kind to me and helped me when I needed it. You're a great friend, Kara."

Kara bit her tongue and nodded with a fake smile. "That's me… a great friend." She waved goodbye as Sakura rushed off to catch the group before they headed off to find Sasuke. _Note to self: Stop at a shrine and make amends for being such a horrible lying human being._ She rushed home and slept for hours.

It was still daylight when she finally awoke. She sat up on her bed and stared out the window. _I wonder how the 'Retrieval' is going._ Kara thought of who Shikamaru would have requested go along with him. _Definitely Naruto… that's a given. I know Lee's still in the hospital, so he couldn't have gone. But Neji might have. _She crawled over to the windowsill that sat above her bed and rested her head there. A slowly encroaching tide of guilt began to wash over her. _This is so stupid. Sasuke doesn't want to stay here. Why do they have to try and bring him back? They should just let him go… I did._ There was a knock at her door. "It's open." She called out, not lifting her head from its resting spot.

The door squeaked open just barely. In trotted Guruko, a curious look on his face as always. "Kara-chan, what are you doing?"

"Hm?" She looked down at herself and said the first thing that came to her mind. "I think I'm sulking."

"Why would you be doing that?" The dog didn't see any reason for her to be in such a mood. Last he had heard, she had finally reconnected with her uncle and everything should be sunshine and butterflies with her.

Kara slid off the windowsill and sat on the edge of her bed to look at Guruko. "Because… I don't know." She shrugged her lethargic shoulders and reached down to scratch him on the head. "I guess you could call it boy trouble."

The little puppy yelped in sudden excitement. "Oh Kara! Are you in love!? Who is he? Who is he? Do I know him? If I do, do I like him? Is he tall? Taller than you? Or short? No, you wouldn't like someone shorter than you. Or would you? What about hi--" Kara's hands shot down and clamped his snout shut.

"Not that kind of 'boy trouble', Guruko-kun." She let him go and sat with him on the floor. "I'll assume you haven't heard. Sasuke left the village last night. The Hokage was going to send me after him… but, I couldn't bring myself to accept the assignment." The dog remained oddly quiet. "She sent Shikamaru and a handful of genin after him instead." She scratched her arm listlessly. "I guess I'm feeling a little bad because they might get themselves hurt trying to bring him back. It was supposed to be me in charge of the mission and if they get hurt…" Her words drifted off as she felt the full effects of her guilt.

Guruko inched closer to her until he was able to crawl up onto her lap. His large brown eyes staring up at her caught her attention. "We should tell Kakashi."

Kara considered the facts. _I suppose we should. Kakashi is Sasuke's teacher… was Sasuke's teacher. _"What do you think he'll do?"

"He'd go after him. We all would. Sasuke's gotten himself all mixed up in some dangerous stuff. No way will those kids the Hokage sent after him make it back safe and sound without help." The small dog jumped off her lap and scurried over to the door. "C'mon Kara-chan."

She slowly got to her feet. "Where is Kakashi anyway? Why doesn't he already know about this?"

"He was sent out on a mission right after he got home last night. He should be getting back any minute now." He pawed at the floor impatiently as Kara gathered her kunai case and pack. "There's no time to waste! Let's go!" Kara opened the door to her apartment and walked out with Guruko to street level. There she paused. "What's the hold up now?" He whined.

With a thoughtful expression on her face, Kara took a step backwards in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go. "You go and tell Kakashi… I'll wait for ya'll at the main gate."

The dog faltered for a moment, not completely understanding, but in too much of a rush to put any more thought into it. "Uh… okay. Don't worry, I'll hurry." Guruko took off leaving little paw prints in the dirt behind him.

Kara checked all of her gear once more before hurrying to the main gate. However, she didn't stop there. She rushed past the monstrous doors, found the Retrieval team's trail and took off into the trees after them. _I know Sasuke said he wouldn't kill Naruto… he said he wouldn't kill his best friend, but… god, please don't let any of them die. Please…_

--

Kakashi stood at the main gate, clearly in an agitated and worried state. "She's not here, Guruko." He observed as he summoned the rest of the pack.

"B-But she said she'd be here. She said she'd wait." He whimpered quietly as he trotted over to stand with the rest of the dogs.

"Spread out and locate the scents of Naruto, Sasuke… and Kara. The second you're sure you've found them, call out to me. I'll be there. Now, go!" The pack scattered in all directions. He waited impatiently. _She can't have more than a five minute head start on me. But damn it, she's fast. Sasuke and Naruto are probably at each other's throats… I just hope she doesn't get caught up between them. They really could end up killing each other… and her._

A low howl sounded from the northwest. He easily recognized the tone. "Good boy, Pakkun." Kakashi rushed to join the canine and begin chasing down the three.

--

Kara gasped as she sensed an intense surge of chakra just on the other side of a line of trees before her. It didn't slow her down. She burst through the tree line and came to a sudden halt at the sight. Sasuke was standing over Naruto. The blonde was lying on the ground, unmoving. _…oh no. Please, no…_

Sasuke knew she was standing there, but he didn't look up. He kept staring down at his unconscious friend. "I had to sever the bond between us. It was the only way… the only way to get him to let me go." His voice was low, tired.

The girl gradually inched forward; too many emotions, ranging from shock to sorrow to rage, kept her silent. But by the time she was standing beside him, two words managed to escape her steady lips. "Is he…?"

"No." The Uchiha's eyes left Naruto and turned to take in Kara's quiet stare. "He's alive." At that moment, a stab of pain shot through his torso, a consequence of using the power of the curse mark. "Ack…!" He crumpled forward, into Kara's arms.

Instinctually, she supported him; like he had supported her when she was injured so many times before. "Careful." She couldn't bring her voice above the level of a whisper. "You're hurt." It sounded more like she was stating a fact rather than making a concerned observation.

"…yeah." Sasuke took a breath, inadvertently inhaling the scent of her hair, as he reached up to hold her shoulders and stand up straight again. "I'll be fine." The two of them looked into each other's eyes. Kara was trying to understand him. He was trying to understand her. He knew there was no point. There would never be any understanding of her completely, but the emotions he was feeling for her at that moment… those he had to know before he left. "Didn't we already say goodbye?"

Kara barely nodded, not wanting to break eye contact. _I already said goodbye… so why do I feel like I need to say it again all of a sudden?_

"Then why did you come? Gonna try and stop me after all?"

He was expecting some snide, clever quip from her. Maybe a 'the world doesn't revolve around you' or something along those lines. Instead, he had a front row seat as the invisible wall behind her eyes cracked and let flow every repressed thought she had. "I came because… What I told myself was… I couldn't bear the guilt of…" She couldn't see straight anymore. The muscles in her eyes were working too hard to keep back the tears. "No."

Sasuke was still holding onto her shoulders for support. Her right hand held one of his arms, while her left had found itself settled at the base of his neck. "No?" He couldn't tell if 'No' was an answer to his question of if she was talking to herself; telling herself 'No', she wouldn't tell him why she had come. Either response was unacceptable to him. He had to know.

She gently nodded her head again, but gave into her aching eyes and blinked, breaking the surface tension of her tears and letting them stream down her cheeks quietly. Her voice stayed calm and stable. "No. I am not here to stop you." She inhaled deeply, almost enough to pull the breath out of him… they were standing so close together. _I thought I came here to make sure no one got hurt while trying to bring you back… I never knew I was such a good liar. I can lie even to myself._ "I think I wanted to say goodbye again."

He was shocked into silence. _Why would she want to say goodbye to me again?! _He took in her appearance as it slowly dawned on him that he too had wanted to see her one last time as well. A steady downpour began, sticking her light silver hair against her already dampened cheeks. _She looks so broken-hearted, but so… resolute. She's really not here to stop me. She really does understand me._ He caught his reflection in her azure eyes. _I-Is that me?_ The image he saw was that of a weary, forlorn young boy on the brink of tears himself.

"Sasuke." Kara's voice, sharp and clear as a bell despite her distraught appearance, brought him out of his thoughts.

"Don't say it." His answer was a knee-jerk reaction. "This isn't goodbye. I'm going to finish what I've started… and then…" He couldn't complete the thought. He couldn't see his future beyond exacting his revenge. In a perfect world, he would have been able to leave, avenge his family and then return to the village and live out the rest of his days fulfilled. But this wasn't a perfect world. The reality was that he was going rogue. He could never return, not unless he was willing to accept the punishment for his actions… which was, more often than not, death.

"And then… you'll come back." Kara knew the dream he had in mind. The dream to end his nightmare. "You're right. This isn't goodbye. This is, until we meet again." For the first time since she had arrived there, she smiled. It was a small smile, but a natural, unforced one.

_I love it when you smile._ The thought finally brought him the understanding and closure he needed. _You get under my skin like no one else. You make me angry because you're better than me, but I don't feel any better when I beat you. I'm really going to miss you, Kara. _"Until we meet again, Kara." He leaned in closer, letting his hands slide up to gently hold the sides of her neck.

She could feel his warm breath in contrast to the cold drops of water soaking through her clothes. "Until… we meet again…" His name didn't have time to leave her mouth as the two of them shared a soft, tender first kiss. Her left hand drifted up to graze his cheek before settling just below his ear. Both of his hands became caught in her silver tresses, dampened by the rain.

What felt like an eternity was but a few moments in length. They broke apart and looked at each other one last time. Neither one shivered in the cold rain shower. The blushes apparent on their faces were enough to keep them warm. Kara was the first to move and take a step back, giving him unspoken permission to leave. He did just that.

_Oh… my…_ After he was out of sight, Kara tilted her head down, allowing her wet hair to fall forward and hide her wry smirk. _He kissed me. _Her eyes widened with every second she spent remembering the event. _I kissed him back!_ The whole encounter was so surreal in her mind, but there would be time later for her to contemplate the reasons behind why her cheeks were burning red now.

"Kara." Kakashi rushed to stand by her. Pakkun stood dutifully at his side. "Are you alright?" He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her around to look at him. She nodded her head furiously, hoping he wouldn't get a good look at her flustered appearance. He sighed with relief and pulled her into a secure hug. "Thank God."

She felt him lean down and kiss the top of her head. _Gosh, he was really scared about me getting hurt wasn't he?_ Kara's eyes peeked out over Kakashi's arm to catch sight of Naruto, still lying on the ground. _Naruto!_ She pushed her uncle back and turned to stare at the unconscious teenager.

Kakashi walked over and knelt down beside the boy. He checked his pulse and let go another tired, grateful sigh. "He's alive." _This could have ended so much worse._

Pakkun sniffed at a scratched headband at Naruto's side. "This is Sasuke's."

Just as Kakashi was reaching out to grab it, Kara glided past and snatched it up. "I got it." She cleared her throat and slipped into her pack.

"…okay." He retracted his hand and stared up at her, unsure of what to make of her demeanor. He decided it was more prudent to take care of his student and let Kara's odd behavior go. The rain stopped just as Kakashi lifted Naruto up onto his shoulders.

"Hrm…" Pakkun grunted distastefully. "I don't think I'll be able to pick up the kid's scent cause of all the rain." He was referring to continuing the search for Sasuke. "Besides, it's probably better we take care of Naruto first."

Kakashi was already leading Kara ahead of himself. "Yeah…" _Sasuke's gone. There's no undoing. Right now our focus should be on Naruto and the rest of the kids who were sent out on this suicide mission._

The trek back to the village went faster than expected. Naruto woke about halfway back, just in time to hear three medic nin arrive and inform Kakashi and Kara about the fates of the other genin. "Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba will be fine. They only received minor injuries in comparison to Akimichi Choji and Hyuuga Neji. They have all been transported to the hospital and are currently undergoing treatment. How is Naruto?" The lead medic fell in step beside Kakashi.

"He'll be fine." The Copy-ninja kept looking forward, knowing what the next question would be and not wanting to have to answer it.

"And Sasuke? Where is he?"

There was silence in response to the medic's question. Kara didn't like it. "He's gone." She called over her shoulder as she was at the head of the group. _But not forever…_

--

Kara loitered in the hallways of the hospital. Pakkun was keeping her company. He sat on a bench and watched as she drifted from one end of the hall to the other. "That's enough." He snapped at her after she had made over half a dozen passes. "Sit down already." She must not have heard him because she continued to walk past him again. "Hey!" The pug shouted at her.

"Hm?" She glanced over at him with a distant look in her eye.

"What the hell?" Pakkun was dumbfounded by her attitude ever since she had been found standing in the rain beside Naruto. "Why are you acting so weird?"

She took slight offense to the accusation. "I'm not acting weird. I'm just… thinking." She returned to her thoughts and her pacing.

"Mind sharing with the rest of the class?" He growled as he jumped down to head her off.

"Not really, no." Kara sidestepped around the dog and walked to a nearby window. She paused and watched as leftover raindrops dripped down the glass panes. _What am I feeling? Do I actually care about Sasuke like that? Does he really think of me in that way as well? Ugh….! This sucks having more questions than answers._

"There you are!" Anko grabbed Kara by the arm and ensnared her in a death hug. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in, missy?! You are still under my tutorage and as such you are never to leave the village without my permission. Do you understand me?!"

Kakashi walked up and caught hold of Kara's right arm, halfway pulling her loose of the woman's grasp. "I thought we already discussed this Anko."

She refused to let go of Kara's left arm. "We 'discussed' nothing. She is my student and I am not giving her up. That's not gonna change." She pulled on her half of Kara possessively.

Kakashi's grip did not loosen in the least. "Anko." His voice had a scolding quality to it.

Realizing how dangerous a situation she had become trapped in, Kara looked down at Pakkun and whispered, "Pakkun! Help me!"

The dog raised one of his eyebrows, amused more than interested. "Oh? You want to talk to me now? Tch… You're on your own, kiddo." He nonchalantly trotted down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

_Why you little... ACK!_ The ever escalating argument between Anko and Kakashi continued, resulting in Kara nearly being ripped in two. "Ack! Okay! Stop it!" She shouted at the two adults. They paused, no longer actively pulling on her arms, but not letting go of them either. Kara took a moment to compose herself. "Alright then. This situation has the potential of getting very bad, very fast. So what's going to happen is that on the count of three you are both going to release my arms and we are going to work out our issues like adults. Okay?"

Both jonin stared at each other like it was the other's fault before nodding in agreement with Kara.

"Good." Kara sighed with a thankful smile. "1… 2… 3." Her arms were released and she instantly brought them to her chest. "Now then, about whom my sensei is."

A sudden burst of white smoke cut her off from her thoughts. "That would be me." Gai stood confidently with his hands on his waist. "Technically, neither of you is Kara's teacher. She was stolen from me first. I'll be taking her back now." He quickly picked her up and made a break for it through the window she had been staring out of just moments ago.

Anko and Kakashi both walked to the open window and watched in shock as Gai and his captive disappeared over the rooftops. "This is all your fault." Anko growled at the silver-haired man.

"My fault!? I didn't just jump out the window with Kara over my shoulder."

"Yeah, but he's your rival. He probably felt compelled to act like such a moron because of you." She pointed out with a false sense of logical superiority.

"I'm not his keeper." He grumbled indignantly. _Gai, you are such a pain in the ass._ "I'll go after them." Kakashi pushed the window open a bit more and started to crawl out.

"No. I'll go after them." Anko pushed him back and tried to get out of the window first.

_God! Would you grow up?!_ He pushed her in return which only made her glare daggers at him at close range. "Fine." Kakashi sighed. "How about we act like adults, like Kara wanted, and work together to find her?"

With an angry snort, Anko agreed. "Fine."

--

"My…" Gai nodded his head slowly in disbelief. "that's quite a story, bugaboo."

"Yeah." Kara leaned back against the tree the two of them were sitting under. She had just finished telling him all about what had happened to her over the past month or so; from ANBU to Anko to just moments ago, excluding her rather personal conversations with Sasuke. It's not that she didn't trust her sensei, but there's a limit to how much you should share with people, especially those that might not understand. "And now I want to go back into the ANBU."

The green clad man leaned against her shoulder and looked down at her. "About that Kara. I don't think ANBU is a good fit for you."

"Huh? What do you mean, not a good fit?" She was shocked that he had such an opinion. "It's the elite military corps of Konoha. Why wouldn't I belong there?"

"Oh! It's not that you wouldn't do well there. It just that…" Gai started elaborating with his hands. "ANBU is for the elite, but it's also for ninja who have reached their peak. You still have so much more growing to do. Being among people who aren't going to improve anymore would stunt your growth."

Kara was not going to be convinced so easily. "Weren't you in ANBU sensei?"

"Yes, but that was different." He wagged his finger at her.

She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow at him challengingly. "How so?"

"I got into ANBU after I no longer had someone to mentor me. There was no one to tell me I could still improve. It took me awhile before I realized that I still had so much potential and it was ANBU holding me back." He poked her nose sweetly. "And you bugaboo, have quite a bit more growing to do until you become a magnificent butterfly."

"Hrmmm…" Kara did a pathetic job of trying to hide her bashful smile. Sometimes, Gai was just to kind to her. "So then, you're saying you're going to continue being my teacher?"

The jonin sat back up straight against the tree and crossed his arms. "No, I'm afraid not." He peeked out of the corner of his eye to see Kara's confused face. "I do believe that I have instilled in you all that I am capable of instilling. I also think that it would be for the best if I focus on Lee. The plucky fellow needs my guidance now more than ever. Neji has his uncle Hiashi-san to rely on... and as much as it pains me to say it, I think that perhaps you too should look to your family."

Kara's jaw dropped from the admittance of her sensei. "Y-you're serious? Oh my god… did you just seriously tell me that Kakashi would be a better teacher for me than yourself?"

Gai raised one arm to cover his eyes in dramatic grief. "Yes… but please spare me the humiliation and refrain from telling ANYONE that I said that."

"I don't think anyone would believe me if I did." She took a moment to pop her eyes back into her skull and reattach her jaw. "And I can make anyone believe just about anything."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gai came out of his distressed state upon hearing her curious words.

Kara just waved it off dismissively. "Oh nothing, sensei."

"Hiya Kara-chan." Tenzou walked up, still stuck behind his ANBU fatigues and mask.

The visitor was unexpected. "Oh, hey there Kitty-man. I haven't seen you in forever. Um, what are you doing here?" Kara looked up at the man from her low vantage point, sitting under the oak tree.

He sighed tiredly. "Anko's blackmailing me to help her find you before Kakashi-sempai finds you."

"Is that so?" The spoken of one-eyed devil dropped down from the trees above them and took a seat on the other side of Kara. "And here I thought she agreed to work with me for once. Go on and tell her you found Kara and that I'll be waiting here for her."

"Sure thing, sempai. While I'm at it, I'll just kick my own ass. How's that sound?" Tenzou shook his head sarcastically and left to find the overly aggressive woman to inform her of his failure.

Gai looked over Kara's head at the man."Kakashi, my rival, tell me, how are Naruto and Sakura?" Kara jabbed the blunt man in the side. "Ow!" He held his abdomen and looked at Kara sadly. She only glared back at him. She considered it rude and thoughtless to ask Kakashi about his students so soon after the past two days of drama.

Kakashi didn't seem to notice the exchange between the two of them. "Naruto's doing well. He's awake. And Sakura… I think she might still be in shock after everything that's happened, but I'm sure she'll pull through." He leaned his head back against the tree trunk. "But they're well being won't be my concern for much longer."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Gai continued to pry. He had to block another jab from Kara, but it was worth it for Kakashi's next answer.

"Jiraiya-sama has made it quite clear that he intends on taking Naruto under his wing. He's made plans for the two of them to leave in about three months time." He picked apart a leaf that had gotten caught in his hair when he had jumped down to ground level. "And I heard an interesting rumor about Sakura. Supposedly, Lady Tsunade has agreed to make her an apprentice and teach her medical ninjutsu."

"Wow… all three--" Kara's words rushed ahead of her usual censorship. She quickly covered her mouth and cut herself off, but it was too late. She could feel the eyes of both men staring at her, both knowing full well what she was about to say. _All three of Kakashi's students are now being taught by one of the three Sannin._ "I'm sorry." She whispered from behind her hand.

Kakashi patted her on the head kindly. "Don't be. I thought the exact same thing myself."

Gai, sensing a need to break the peaceful and not at all awkward silence, spoke up. "So, your schedule is clear since you don't have students anymore, eh?"

"Sensei!" Kara snapped around and pushed him roughly. _Oh my god! Can you get any more rude? How embarrassing! I kinda like the idea of Kakashi training me now, but… there's no way I could just ask him to. What if he says 'no'? …! What if he says 'yes' and then Anko finds out?!_

Before Gai could come back with something to say to Kara's outburst, Anko dropped down from the upper branches of the tree. "Yeah. That's right. Kakashi doesn't have any students anymore. And he's certainly not going to get his grubby, little hands on mine! Come here, Kara-chan." The crouching woman reached out to the girl expectantly.

Kakashi held his hands up in front of his face. _My hands aren't grubby or little._ He was beginning to find Anko's behavior more amusing than irritating. "Don't you think that Kara ought to have a say in which one of us teaches her?"

"Which… one? So…" Kara looked back and forth between her uncle and Anko. "Both of you would be willing to teach me?"

"It's not about being willing, sweetheart." Anko remained crouching, like a wildcat ready to attack anything that opposed her edict. "It's about which one of us is more capable. I am the obvious choice. Therefore, I am your teacher."

Kakashi chuckled and cracked his knuckles. "What about which one of us has more to offer?" He took hold of Kara's hand and said three simple words. "Hatake Family Secrets."

The teenager's blue eyes widened with interest. "Secrets?"

"Oh please." Anko rolled her eyes. "They're only secrets cause you're the only one left." She snapped her fingers to regain Kara's attention. "Snake Summoning."

"Summoning?" Kara turned to look at Anko. "Like the snake whose head I cut off?" The jonin nodded evilly.

Gai watched, thoroughly entertained by the developing situation. He dared not interrupt.

"Lightning-based ninjutsu." Kakashi whispered in his niece's ear. She turned back to look at him again. "Other than Chidori." He took her growing smile as a positive sign.

"Forbidden Jutsu!" Anko frantically proclaimed, afraid for the first time that Kara might really choose the Copy Ninja over her.

The offer certainly caught everyone's attention. "What are you talking about? You can't teach her Forbidden Jutsu." Kakashi scoffed at her ridiculous announcement. "They're forbidden for a reason."

"Tch… how can they become forbidden if no one uses them?" The woman sneered with confidence. She looked away from Kakashi to see Kara and Gai whispering to each other about something. "Hey!"

"Kara?" Kakashi reached out to touch her shoulder.

She quickly spun around with a pleased look on her face. "You both clearly want to teach me, right?" Anko and Kakashi looked at each other before looking back at Kara and nodding warily. "And I really do want to learn all of those things you guys said you would teach me." Gai patted her on the shoulder, happy with the decision she had made. "I'd really like it if both of you would teach me." She sensed the tension building between the two and jumped to quench the brewing embers. "I mean, there are some things that only Anko can teach me", she explained to Kakashi and then turned to face Anko. "And then there are some things that only Kakashi can teach me."

"Just think about what's best for Kara." Gai held the girl steady in front of him for protection as much as to emphasize his point.

Anko growled at Gai. "This was your idea, wasn't it bowl-head?"

"No. It was my idea. Gai-sensei just agreed with me." Kara raised her arms up to defend Anko's target. "Please?"

The woman scoffed indignantly. "Like Hell I--"

"Okay." Kakashi cut her off. "I can accept sharing you with Anko." _I'm tired of having to fight Anko for Kara already. If she thinks she can honestly be a better mentor than me, she's delusional. Besides, Kara will come to her senses eventually. No need to rush her to drop the psychopath. I'm a patient man._

Kara, Anko and Gai were all equally shocked. "Really?!" They each exclaimed with their own spin of excitement, shock and disbelief respectfully.

The Copy-ninja nodded his head calmly as he stood up. "I've got a bunch of paperwork and a few more missions to take care of… so how's about I start teaching you next week?" He stared down at Kara. She shook her head up and down with a stupid grin plastered on her face. "Good." He pulled out his orange book and began reading as he walked off.

"Kara-chan… sweetie… you don't really want both of us to teach you, do you?" Anko finally regained the ability to speak.

"What's wrong Anko-nee-chan?" Kara pouted fallaciously. "You don't want to prove you're a better teacher than Kakashi-sempai?"

The light bulb over the jonin's head began to burn brightly. "Unlike Kakashi, I don't have anything keeping me from you. Your training with me starts first thing tomorrow!" Anko chuckled cruelly at the thought of putting that over confident Kakashi in his place. She jumped back up into the treetops and disappeared.

"Hehe… that's my girl." Gai squeezed her shoulder encouragingly.

* * *

**While writing that whole 'kiss' scene I could hear Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin playing in my head. It just sounds like the perfect theme song for Kara and Sasuke.**

**Bowl-head = my new favorite insult from Anko. That chick is something else man.**

**I'm sorry this chapter was so much shorter than other ones. But in all fairness, the previous chapter was a cliffhanger and really this chapter is just the conclusion of it. Next chapter will be back to its usual length. Also, I'm seeing some comedy in the coming chapters! I can't wait to write it! ^^**

**, , , , , Chameleon! Nothing rocks quite like the 80's. Review for me, my legions of fans!**


	20. Understatements

**I know… I know… I'm really behind in updating. I tell ya', these last three months have been especially crazy for me. Just little things really. No real point in listing them cause it'd just be excuses and I'm not really one for excuses. I just wasn't writing. But now I am… hopefully the change will hold.**

**November 11th is Kara's birthday. It is also Jiraiya's birthday. (Databook nerd alert) I'm only reminding you because in this chapter and the next that information is actually relevant to the plot. **

**(P.S. Three hours -equals- Three months… lol)**

**Read, Enjoy and Review my ever loyal readers!

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Chapter 20: Understatements

Kara shuffled into the Hokage's office, her eyes half closed and a completed mission report in her hand. "Done." She mumbled as she laid it down on the corner of Tsunade's desk.

"I wanted that report three hours ago. This is the eleventh time you've been late." The blonde reclined in her chair, watching Sakura practice medical ninjutsu on a near dead fish off to the side. She picked up the paper Kara had laid down. "You're getting to be just as bad as your uncle. …hn, you forgot to write the date." She handed it back to the teenager.

"My bad…" Kara bent down to use the corner of the desk to write on when it dawned on her. "Um… what's today's date?" She heard Sakura stifle a chuckle in the background. _Tch… you'd forget too if you kept the same hours I did. Kakashi training me during the day, Anko hunting me at night. I sleep when I can. Half my diet is soldier pills now if only because I don't have time to eat if I want to shower and keep clean._

Tsunade stared at Kara with concern in her eyes. "It's the 10th of November."

"Okay." The teenager scratched out the date and slid the paper back toward the blonde.

The Hokage caught her hand and forced Kara to look her in the eye. "Have you ever heard of the old adage, 'Two tigers cannot rule one mountain'?" The girl squinted her eyes and shook her head back and forth. "Well, maybe it's not the wisest thing for you to be stretched so thinly between two sensei." Kara continued to stare back at Tsunade silently. Her complete lack of energy frustrated the woman. "I'm trying to throw you a bone here. Just ask me and I'll have Kakashi sent out on so many missions that he'll never bother you again."

Kara raised an eyebrow at the woman's remark. It did nothing to open her groggy eye any more than it already was."Bother me?"

"Yes. I mean, you would prefer to be trained by Anko alone, right?" Tsunade suddenly flung a pencil into the nearly revived fish's side and shouted another order at Sakura. The girl jumped back startled. "When you're on the field of battle more injuries could occur when you least expect them. That fish better not die. I want to see it swimming around in its tank before dinner." With Sakura back on task, the Hokage returned her attention to Kara, awaiting an answer.

The teenager was rubbing her aching, sleep-deprived neck. "Actually, exhaustion aside, I like them both. I'm learning a lot."

-

The past two months had been quite eye-opening for Kara. Despite repeated attempts to improve, it was discovered that she had no talent whatsoever in the field of genjutsu. Instead, Kakashi had decided to focus on teaching her defense against such techniques along with the advancement of lightning element usage. Days with him were not strenuous on her physically. However, were it not for her superior stamina, her chakra network would have collapsed multiple times, completely drained of energy after countless hours of intense focus and manipulation. The master of over 1,000 jutsu, who had learned how to put every last drop of chakra to use without waste, was determined to make sure Kara learned too, despite the fact that she had more than enough chakra in her system that repercussions from misuse and waste would rarely be an issue for her.

Anko chose to take a more practical and hands-on approach. Kara spent her night sessions with the Tokubetsu Jounin completing mock missions and surviving against a ruthless, wily hunter; Anko. Upon seeing Kara's Toton Invisibility Jutsu up close, it was decided that she would make an excellent forward scout, sent ahead of teams in order to assess situations while remaining completely undetected by the enemy. More often than not, Kara never completed her set objective during their training. She would become entirely too preoccupied with not getting herself accidentally killed by a reckless and violent Anko. Seven times, she had managed to corner Kara even though she was unseen. Each time a different mistake on Kara's part led to her discovery. Breathing too hard, heartbeat too loud, a bead of sweat hitting the ground, a yawn, a sneeze, a cough and, Kara's personal joy to hear Anko chastise her over; the sound of her hair brushing past her shoulder. From that day on, Kara was sure to leave her hair down just to spite the woman. She was half certain Anko's main issue was sheer jealousy and nothing more.

Even with her more than overloaded plate, Kara was still being assigned missions by the Hokage. Short supply of competent ninja was the prevailing excuse. If she wasn't chasing some rowdy drunks out of a local farming community, she was training with her uncle. If she wasn't training with him, she was running after small time thieves. If she wasn't doing that, she was running away from Anko. It was a vicious cycle that hardly gave her a moment's rest… and it had only been like this for two short months.

-

"Why do you think I prefer Anko?" Kara mulled over the fact that if she absolutely had to a chose between them, she would prefer Kakashi if only because family should always come first.

Tsunade shook her head, puzzled. "Well, that's how she told me you felt."

"Told you, eh?" She internally rolled her eyes. _Typical Anko. Still trying to win against Kakashi._ "Well, I don't feel that way. I intend on continuing training with both of them until I've learned what I want to learn." _Or until I drop dead… that's a much more likely ending, isn't it? Or better yet… Anko might eventually decide she wants to teach me during the day as well and murder Kakashi in his sleep in order to get her way._

Tsunade noticed Kara was stuck in her overactive imagination and snapped her fingers to regain the girl's attention. "Good luck with that."

"There you are kiddo!" Anko briskly walked into the office and slapped Kara on the back. The teenage girl slurred some sort of acknowledgement, too stunned by the strike to formulate a proper greeting. "Guess what."

"Hm?" Her eyebrows furrowed together in anticipation that she would not like what she was about to hear.

The woman chuckled. "I've got you for the day! Isn't that great?"

_Oh god… she killed Kakashi-sempai…_ Kara stood stunned. "…why?"

Anko's smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Why are you asking why? You should be happy that you get more training with me. I've got something real special planned out for you today." She started pushing Kara out of the office. "Thanks for watching her for me, Hokage-sama!" She carelessly waved behind them to Tsunade before she shut the door.

"Anko-san…" Kara sighed, tired from her hectic schedule and exasperated even more by her sensei's upbeat attitude. "I'm supposed to go and meet Kakashi right now. It's his turn to train me. It's part of the custody agreement we all have, remember?"

The woman paused and propped her hands onto her hips. "Yeah. I know. But he's the one that cancelled."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kara looked up at her confused. Kakashi was tardy often, but he never cancelled. When he said he'd be somewhere, he was.

Anko cocked her head to the side and stared down at Kara. The teenager was nearly the same height as her, but the effect was the same. "He found me this morning and told me that he had some important errand to run and that I could have you today."

_I wonder if it occurred to him that he could have just let me go home and get some decent sleep. Instead, he's given Anko permission to eat up this nice bit of free time._ Kara nodded her head in understanding. "Oh... So, what are we doing?"

"We're going Dungeon Crawling!" She threw her arm around Kara's shoulder and walked her down several flights of stairs.

It didn't take long for Kara to realize they were well below ground level of the Hokage's office building. "Uh, I know you said Dungeon Crawling, but were you being literal or just expressive?"

Anko let her go and pushed an old creaky door open. A dust cloud erupted out of it, cobwebs fluttering from the decade old breeze. "Fifty-fifty, kiddo. Come on." She waved for Kara to follow her into the dark room.

Kara walked closely behind the woman, her right hand glowing red with a very weak Chidori for light. Score one point for improvisation. "Anko…" She whispered warily as she swore she saw something skitter by in the dusty corner of the dim, cold room. "Where exactly are we?" Kara could feel her adrenaline level rising, slowly but surely making her more aware of her surroundings… and she didn't like them.

Anko disappeared from her side to search for a light switch. "Do you remember when I told you I'd teach you how to summon snakes?" Her hands groped around in the dark until she found the switch and flicked the lights on. The two young women found themselves standing in a large, filthy laboratory stocked full of slowly rotting research equipment and notes.

She turned to see Kara's wide eyes looking around the open space. "What does this place have to do with Snake summoning?"

"Well… It's just that… I don't know where the Snake contract is." Anko seemed slightly reluctant to explain herself. "My best guess is that my old sensei stashed it somewhere around here." She opened a cabinet door. A glass beaker, caked in dust, rolled out and shattered on impact with the ground. "Hehe… oops."

Kara took her cue and gingerly began sliding open drawers using a kunai to keep her distance lest some horrid creature suddenly emerge from the long abandoned shadows. Needless to say, it was a tense seven hours of fruitless searching before she relaxed enough to attempt conversation.

She considered the fact that they were in the sannin, Orochimaru's old laboratory. "Anko-san, you don't really talk about your old sensei. Could you tell me about him?" Kara had wanted to know about Orochimaru since Sasuke had left to train with him. She knew no one wanted to talk about it, but that didn't stop her from being curious. She deduced that Anko's experience as Orochimaru's student would be the closest she might ever get to knowing what Sasuke was experiencing. The only problem was figuring out a way to get the information out of Anko without arousing suspicion or incurring injury.

The straightforward statement and question combo brought Anko to a halt. She slowly set down the stack of papers and scrolls she had been shuffling through and sank down onto a metal stool. "I don't talk about him for a reason."

"I know, but…" Kara knew the subject was just about the only thing that hurt the woman. She knew it was wrong of her to push the topic, but no one was completely selfless. She needed to know. "I think it would be helpful for me to understand him some. It might lead to finding the Snake contract faster."

Anko tipped an old trash bin over with her foot. "You're a clever kid, squirt. Genetically predisposed, I'd say. But you're not that good." She leaned back against a countertop and stared at Kara. "You want to know about Orochimaru because of Sasuke." Kara's frozen, blank stare was confession enough for her. "Thought so." The jonin returned to her search.

"What are you talking about?" Kara's grip on her kunai tightened in frustration. _Am I that transparent? _

"Oh let me count the ways." She snickered. "You've run off twice without my permission to chase after him, you spent hours at his bedside after his brother hospitalized him and ever since you got back from the Valley of the End two months ago you've had this look about you…" Anko leaned forward and grinned knowingly. "Believe it or not, I'm a woman and I know what that look is."

Kara crossed her arms and kept her distance. "What look?" She sniped.

"The look that says you are so fucking confused." The woman chuckled. "That happens when you like someone you shouldn't."

Kara's face paled and her jaw went slack. "I… I…" She gave up trying to hide or explain herself and returned to her searching.

Anko, while remaining seated on the metal stool, rolled over next to her and stared at the girl until she returned her gaze. "I'm not mad. Not really surprised either. You're like me. You want something you can't have. Believe me, I know what it's like to fall for someone who'll be perpetually out of reach." There was something motherly about the way she was speaking to Kara. It was just soft enough to coax a response out of her.

"I don't know if I like him." She whispered and kept at her task. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"Why do you say that?" Anko reached out and grabbed Kara's hand to stop her from her fussing with a locked drawer.

The teenager had the sinking suspicion that she would be in for it if she said too much. "He's gone. He's not coming back and I'm not going after him. Case closed."

"I'm glad to hear it." Anko smacked Kara cheerfully on the back. "For a second there I thought I'd have to tell your uncle about your little crush."

"Huh?!" Kara pulled away from her. "What crush!?" She stumbled over her words before deciding that a more appropriate question would be, "Why would you do that?"

The jonin shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I figured it went without saying. If you had any opinion other than 'He's gone. No point. Not gonna chase him.' you'd be a considerable flight risk. You didn't actually think that your life has been so tightly scheduled for no reason, did you?" She kicked backwards and started to search some low-lying cabinets. "I suspected something was up with you when I saw you pacing in the hospital back in September. It's why I personally made certain that every moment of every day was scheduled for you. I'm sorry you're so conflicted, but I'm positively relieved to hear that you have no intention of doing something stupid like running after him."

Kara slowly unrolled a scroll as she watched Anko out of the corner of her eye. "So… you're the only one who knows?" She hated having to ask such a question, but it was better to know who all was aware of her issue.

"Oh, don't worry." Anko waved the girl's concern off. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who suspected something was up with you. You're pretty good about hiding your emotions when you really try… That reminds me." She pulled her head out of an open cabinet and looked over at Kara. "Seeing as how I now know you're not a risk anymore, we're going to cut back on our training. It's way too tiring keeping track of you 24/7. I need a break."

The news was welcome; the fact that Anko seemed to be the only one aware of her uncertain emotions and that she would now get some time off to rest. "Heh… you need a break?" Kara rolled her eyes and immediately regretted the action.

"Yeah. I do." Anko answered flatly. "You know what? I'm done with you for tonight. You're too… aww, I don't know the right word. You're bugging me now kid. Go on and get out of here. I'll see you around tomorrow." She dismissed Kara and waved for her to leave.

"Oh, uh… m'kay. I'll see you around Anko-san." Pleasantly surprised to have not gotten a worse tongue lashing for being snotty, Kara quickly scurried out of the dank basement.

--

The chilly night air nipped at Kara's nose as she walked home. Winter was coming. The first snowfall would be only another couple of weeks away at most. She shivered and brought her hands up to her mouth for warmth. Her pace quickened at the thought of a nice warm bed waiting for her.

Kara shut the door to her apartment behind her and fell back against it tiredly. She tilted her head up and looked at a clock on the far side of the room. It was the first time she had seen a clock since the previous morning. _2 a.m. Nice. _She sighed and kicked off her shoes before shuffling into her bedroom. The lights were off, but the curtains were drawn back allowing the natural moonlight in. _Hn. Would've sworn I had shut those._ She took two steps toward them and froze. Something was out of place.

"I wondered how long it would take for you to notice." A voice from a shadow that didn't belong there called out to her. She recognized the taunting tone and was left speechless. Her blue eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, strained to see the figure in the dark corner of her bedroom. "I believe this is the third time you've haven't had some clever quip to snap back at me."

"Heh…" Kara let her captive breath free with a snort of disbelief. "Either I'm losing my touch or you're getting better." She began to walk toward the figure. It matched her step for step. The two met at the border between the moonlight and the darkness of her room. "What on Earth are you doing here, Sasuke?" Her eyes conveyed her inner emotions; confusion, confliction, concern.

He stood there wearing a black cloak that obscured his form well in the poor lighting. _I uh… dammit! I forgot the second you walked into the room. I can't believe you still have this effect on me._ Despite his scattered thoughts, he managed a relaxed and coy reply. "Why do you think I'm here?

The confusion in Kara's mind quickly grew into an early stage of panic. _Why is he here?! Oh my god, this is bad, isn't it? _Her knees became weak as she fell down to sit on the edge of her bed. "It doesn't matter why. You shouldn't be here." She mumbled, holding her head in her hands. "What am I going to do? This isn't the sort of thing I can weasel my way out of by being cute and clever. …god, if Anko finds out… if Kakashi finds out!" Her exasperated tone unsettled the young boy standing over her.

"Well, sorry I'm such a bother." Sasuke snorted, crossing his arms, pretending to be hurt. The act backfired spectacularly.

"A bother? A bother?!" Kara slowly stood back up with a sneer and began berating the fourteen year old in a hushed, strained voice. "Do you have any idea how much stress and anxiety you've caused me?! I just found out that I've spent the past two months under non-stop training and supervision by two of the village's elite jounin because, try as I did to prevent it, one of them has become acutely aware that I cannot get you and that stupid kiss out of my head!" She punctuated the last four words with sharp pokes at his chest; the last of which happened to knock him off balance. He fell back and sat on the bed with a stunned bounce. "Being a 'bother' is an understatement." Kara ended her little tirade with a scowl.

Sasuke stared up at her, taken aback by her sudden attack. Kara was fuming. The fire behind her eyes was nearly visible in the white moonlight. He noted her every feature; the way her eyebrows furrowed together in frustration, the way her thin pink lips pouted just to the left, the way her cheeks were flushed as she tried to demurely catch her breath while breathing only through her nose. He found it all so very silly and quite the relief. _It's nice to know I wasn't the only one of us being driven crazy over that kiss._ "I couldn't stop thinking about it either." Kara's jaw dropped at his statement. "That's why I came back. Just to see you. To make sure it wasn't some kind of fluke."

"Beg your pardon." She was beyond shocked. He was about to repeat himself when her hand shot out to cover his mouth. "Ah, ah. Heh… no, no, no, no, no. No. You are not saying that you snuck into a place where you are a wanted criminal, away from your new psychotic sannin sensei, who wants your body more than anything else, just to see me." She took a breath. "That's just ridiculous. Over the top. Unbelievable." Her hand fell from his mouth and hung loosely at her side.

_She sure does make a good point. Which reminds me why I came here in the first place. _"Yeah, you're right. It is all a bit much just to see you. I also wanted to give you this." Sasuke procured a white box about the size of a notebook out from underneath his cloak. _Yup. Just now remembered what this box jabbing me in the side has been._

Kara was speechless as he pushed the gift into her hands. A flabbergasted "…huh?" managed to tumble out of her mouth.

"It's your birthday, Kara." He stated a fact that she seemed to be unaware of. "…wow. How could you forget that?"

"I-I didn't forget. It's just… " _Oh yeah. Today is the eleventh. Really early morning on the eleventh, but still. Geez, the days sure did fly by._ Kara recovered and quickly turned the spotlight back on him. "How did you know? I don't really advertise my birthday."

It crossed Sasuke's mind how he had come to know her birthday was in fact today. _Orochimaru had Kabuto compile dossiers on a bunch of people. Kara included. He copied a lot of official village records while he was here. But I can't tell her that. It would only worry her._ "I'm just that bad ass." He took hold of her wrist and pulled her down to sit on the bed next to him.

"Tch…" Kara chuckled at his usual hubris. "So, what'd you get me?" She idly picked at the corner of the box.

"Well, if that's not a stupid question." He jabbed at her.

She was relieved by the familiar taunting tone of his voice. "How many times do I have to tell you to quit picking on me? …Uchiha." The two stared at each other. Her amusement was contagious.

"Quit talking and open the damn box already… Harada." He reached out and pulled the lid off the box for her. Inside was a neatly folded black scarf. "Try it on." The young boy prodded.

Kara gingerly let her fingers graze the fabric. She slipped her hand under the first fold and lifted the article out of its box. _So soft._ She wrapped it around her neck twice. The thin material was surprisingly insulating and quickly warmed her, forcing out the last of the night's chill. "Thank you. It's lovely." She smiled and turned away briefly, afraid she might have been blushing. _Dang it! Get a hold of yourself, Kara!_

"Here." Sasuke took hold of the end of the scarf and pulled back a corner revealing a second layer. "Check the inlay."

"Hm?" She looked and saw the Uchiha crest stitched into the hidden fold. It was slightly larger than a coin and stood out against the black material. "In case I forget who gave this to me?" She mocked him.

He let it slide, assuming that she was still just messing with him. "Exactly." It was apparent in his voice that he was very pleased with himself. He noticed as she adjusted it and pulled it snuggly against her neck. "I'm glad you like it." He stood up and slowly backed a few steps away from her.

Kara stood and caught his arm before he turned to leave. "Not even a 'bye'?"

"Goodbyes have turned out kinda awkward between the two of us, wouldn't you agree?" He glanced over at the window he had used to get in.

"Heh… yet another understatement." Kara laughed louder than she had intended. "…uh, well… actually, if you're leaving, you should maybe head up to the roof instead of using the window."

Sasuke paused. "Why?"

Kara's awkward laughter was again a few decibels higher than she had aimed for. "Um, well… there's a chance I might be under surveillance." _Anko did say she had been keeping a sharp eye on me. I sure do hope she meant it when she said she wasn't going to be watching me like a hawk anymore._ "Nothing to really worry about. Clearly, if you had been caught getting in here, this place would be full of ANBU by now. But just to be certain, maybe a different exit would be best."

She kept her grip on his forearm and led him up the many flights of stairs of the building. At every turn, she paused to peek around the corner and make sure there wasn't someone wandering the floors of the apartment complex… much like she and her guest were. "Seriously Kara. Let go of my arm." Sasuke didn't wait for her to comply and jerked his arm away from her. "No one knows I'm here. I was careful. I'm not an idiot for crying out loud." He stalked past her and continued on to the next floor, leading the way.

As if on cue, Sasuke turned the corner and came face to face with a young man in his twenties carrying his shoes in his arms as he creeped out of an apartment he did not want to wake up in. The three individuals remained silent; each freaking out for a different reason.

Kara peeked over Sasuke's shoulder to get a good look at the man. Much to her relief, he was not a shinobi. She remained tense for another moment before she noticed the vacant look in the man's eyes. _What the…?_ She walked out from behind Sasuke and shuffled over to the side to see better. _Oh my…_ Kara unintentionally raised her hand to cover her mouth in shock. Sasuke's red Sharingan eyes slowly spun as he stared down the poor guy. A second later the fellow's knees buckled and he fell to the ground with a dull thud.

"See? Nothing to worry about." Sasuke sidestepped over the unconscious body and continued onward. He reached the other end of the hallway before he realized Kara was not following him anymore. He looked back at her. _What's wrong with her now?_

_He just did that so… so casually. Without a second thought._ The teenager bent down and grabbed the man's shirt for leverage as she dragged him over to the side. She didn't want the poor man getting stepped on or noticed before he woke. She discreetly checked for a pulse and was beyond relieved to find it. _Oh thank god. He's just stuck in a genjutsu._

Sasuke coughed obnoxiously to regain her attention. Kara looked down the hall where he stood. The two exchanged glances for a moment before she stood and caught up to him. She wanted to tell him that it was unnecessary for him to do that to the poor man, but she knew that'd be a lie. It would have been too risky to let him wander out onto the streets and possibly mention to a passing patrol that there were two teenagers walking around; one with a description oddly similar to that of a missing nin, the other with an unforgettable head of silver-grey hair.

"He's not going to remember anything, right?" She avoided eye contact with him out of habit. A significant part of Kakashi's training regarding defense against genjutsu had been to never look directly at the Sharingan. The Uchiha had only used it for the few seconds it took to knock the anonymous man out, but the image stuck with her.

"As far as he knows, he's a rabbit." Sasuke's answer did not get the laugh he was expecting from her. Kara's face twisted slightly in disbelief and concern. "Relax… geez. He's fine. Come morning, he won't remember a thing." Her avoiding glance annoyed Sasuke; still, he took her hand and led her up the last few flights of stairs to the roof.

The sudden burst of cold air that rushed in as the two of them stepped out onto the roof caused Kara to wince as it struck her bare arms. "Hey." Sasuke reached out and tapped her chin, bringing it up and gently forcing her to look him in the eye. "Come here."

--

_My… How interesting, Sasuke-kun._ Kabuto pushed his round spectacles up on his nose in his usual creepy manner. The spy crouched behind a stack of crates on an adjacent building's rooftop. He was dressed in a fashion similar to the teenage boy; form obscured in the darkness by a loose black cloak, only a tuft of his dull grey hair stuck out. _Here I thought you were making a midnight run to get some memento you left behind in your exodus from this village…_

He watched closely as the boy reached out to the girl and pulled her into an embrace.

_Only to find that it's your heart that you left here. I suppose this is a better place for it than with us._ _Though, I'm sure Orochimaru-sama would be most interested in knowing all about this little rendezvous. _Kabuto's inner voice hissed viciously as he continued to observe the pair's movements. The girl leaned back and tilted her head to the side as Sasuke tightened his grip around her, kissing her softly.

_Who is she?_ The spy squinted his eyes, hoping to focus in on her face. It was pointless. The kiss was deepened and her back was all that was visible to him. _Silver hair. About 5'5" in height. Not in bad shape. Hm? She might very well be a kunoichi. _Kabuto pulled out a simple blank card and using his jutsu, browsed through its data.

He had to cover his mouth to silence his joyous, sinister laughter at discovering the girl's identity. _This is too good to be true! Harada Kara; niece of none other than the famous Copy-Ninja, granddaughter of the White Fang of Konoha. _Kabuto looked up just as the two broke away from each other for a breath of air. _You sure do have good taste, Sasuke-kun. And I'm sure Ms. Harada agrees with me._ He laughed internally at his own mildly inappropriate joke.

--

"Don't come back to the village like this again." The sentence was about the last thing Sasuke had expected to hear from Kara, especially after a kiss that had left him quite speechless.

"…what?" He fought to hold on, but she pried him off of her.

Kara held him at an arm's length away from herself. "It's too dangerous for you… for us." She squeezed his upper arms and quickly added, "I'm not saying I don't want to see you again. I do." _I really, REALLY do!_ Her mind was working overtime to keep her pounding heart under control. "I just think it would be better not to risk…" She took her time finding the right word for what she was considering to be a worst case scenario. "…discovery."

Sasuke stared at her impassively. "Discovery. Really?" His dull query was punctuated with a single raised eyebrow.

"Yes." The girl's logic had finally finished coming together in her mind and her response was slightly robotic as she explained herself. "It's not like I'm trapped here in the village. And you, I assume by your visit here, have quite a bit of freedom now." She nodded in the direction of the distant forest. "I'll see you out there. When I'm out on missions or vacations."

"Heh, I remember how your last vacation turned out." He ran his fingers along the sides of her arms.

Kara recollected the Land of Waves mission and all the incidents that were involved. "Still totally worth it." She chuckled quietly. A moment of relative calm passed between them. "I'll see you around, Sasuke-kun." Her voice was sweet.

"Goodbye Kara." He quickly leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead before turning and leaping off the edifice.

She wrapped her arms around herself and watched her breath materialize in the cold air. _Oh boy… I don't think I've ever been so simultaneously relieved, exhilarated and distraught. I wonder if this is how love starts. It's certainly strange enough._ She turned and headed back indoors for the next few hours before sunrise.

--

The distinct scents of dog and fruit are what Kara awoke to several hours later. "Hmphh." She pushed the source of the smell away from her face without bothering to open her eyes. "Go away, Guruko. I'm sleeping." She grumbled and rolled to face the other direction.

"How'd you know it was me?" The puppy dug his way under her blankets and tunneled around until he popped out next to her face.

"Banana." She groaned and pulled an errant pillow over her head. "You're the only dog I know that eats it. Now, shhhhh. Sleep."

Guruko laid his head down for a few minutes before he couldn't take it anymore. "Kara, can we get up now?"

"No. Shhhhh." She hushed the canine again.

"But… Kakashi made it very clear to me that I was to fetch you." He received no response. "Do you know what 'fetch' means, Kara-chan?" Again, nothing but the sound of Kara completely ignoring him. "It means I NEED to bring you to him. I've never not fetched when I was told to before. I have a perfect record. Please, can we get up now Karaaaaaaa!" The dog's impassioned whining morphed into a painfully loud howl next to the teenager's ear.

Kara squeezed the pillow over her head tighter with the hope of gaining some reprieve from the sound. It was to no avail. "UGH! Fine! I'm up! Stop!" She clamped the pillow in her hands down on top of Guruko. He immediately ceased his howling and clawed his way out from under the puffy apparatus. "No more noise." He was met by Kara's finger pointing right between his eyes in a threatening manner.

"No more noise." He replied cheerfully, covering his snout with his paw.

The two sat silently for ten seconds before Kara realized she had to ask him where Kakashi had wanted her delivered to. "Very little noise." She altered her previous statement. The dog giggled… or at least as close to a giggle as a dog is capable of. "Where are we going?"

"Home." He chirped with a giddy jump off her bed and onto the floor. "It's cold outside. You should wear something warm."

Kara smiled a coy smile as she stretched and crawled out of bed. Her winter outfit wasn't terribly different from her usual summer attire. Instead of a short-sleeved red shirt, she wore one with three-quarters length sleeves and a pair of black fingerless gloves, intended more for functionality than warmth. Her shoes and pants remained the same as did the situation of her hitai-ate and hair. The only other addition was her new black scarf.

Guruko sat waiting for her at the front door patiently. "Pretty." He cooed when she was finally ready to leave. "That's new." He stood up against her leg and sniffed the loose end of the scarf.

"Yeah." She snatched the fabric away from him and casually flipped it over her shoulder. "Got it from a shop out of town."

"Oh? …huh." The dog dropped down to the floor for a moment before jumping up into her arms. Kara stared at him warily, fearing that perhaps the dog had recognized Sasuke's scent on the scarf. Her fears were soon alleviated. "My feet are sensitive to the cold. Carry me?"

With a newly hatched clever plan, Kara grinned. "Sure thing." She held him against her neck and wrapped half of the scarf around him 'for warmth'. _That ought to cover up Sasuke's scent at least until I can wash it. Guruko might not be wise enough to catch it, but I can't risk it with Pakkun or any of the others. I sure hope this works._

Guruko, happily swaddled against Kara's right shoulder, licked the side of her face. "Happy birthday, Kara-chan."

"Awww… and here I thought you had no idea." She chuckled as she walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind them.

"Are you kidding me?" The dog snuggled deeper against her neck as cold air rushed around them when they got outside. "We spent all day yesterday wandering around getting your present together."

"We?" Kara's interest had been piqued. "Who is 'we'?" _Kakashi cancelled our regularly scheduled practice yesterday. I wonder if that is what he was up to._

Guruko snorted. "Who do you think? The entire pack, you silly girl. We spent nearly the entire day in the manufacturing district waiting around for--" They passed an open bakery. "Oooh Oooh! Get me a treat before we get to the house." He begged.

_Darn it. He almost told me what they got me. Guess I'll just have to wait till I get there. _Kara shook her head. "No. You made such a fuss over getting me out of bed so that Kakashi-sempai wouldn't have to wait for us. We're not having any more delays."

"Aw, Kara… c'mon! Please!" He whined.

Kara figuratively stood her ground as she continued to walk past the bakery. She would have kept walking too had it not been for a familiar or rather unfamiliar face walking out of the shop. "Tenzou-kun? You're not wearing your ANBU mask."

"Hey, yeah." He smiled at her momentarily before returning his complete attention to the oversized collection of pastry boxes in his arms. "Uh, a little help?"

"Oh! Sure, sure." Kara gracefully lowered Guruko to the ground, using her scarf as a pulley system, and rushed to Tenzou's aid. "Wow. What's all this for?" She took the top half of the containers from him.

He floundered for an answer. _Don't say party. Don't say party._ "They uh… are for uh… party?" _Crap._

Kara stared at him quietly. "Who's party, Tenzou-kun?"

"Um… OUCH! Ack! Off! Get off!" He shook his leg wildly in reaction to Guruko's strong jaws clamped down on his ankle.

"Guruko! Let him go this instant." Kara scolded him. The dog let go and sat down as if nothing had happened. Kara took two steps and put her foot down on the dog's tail to prevent him from repeating what he had just done. "You were saying?" She gestured for Tenzou to continue his coerced explanation.

He kept staring at the poorly restrained dog. Guruko seemed to be telling him something with his eyes, now that he could no longer convey the message with his teeth. "I was saying that… I appreciate the help, but I've got it now." Tenzou balanced the pastry boxes he had onto his left arm as he reached out to take the ones Kara had with his free right.

She pulled them out of his reach.

Tenzou retracted his out reached hand and nodded in understanding. "Ah… right. Um… how about a trade then?"

"Sure. You can tell me whose party these are for and I'll gladly give them back to you." Kara didn't bother with making her smile look genuine. She wanted an answer and she was determined to get one.

"Oh? I was thinking you'd want a birthday present instead." He hid his empty hand behind his back for a moment. "But if you'd rather get an answer to a question you're bound to figure out eventually on your own…"

The lure of another gift was too much for her. "Well, if you insist." Kara offered him the boxes back with a smile. "What'd you get me?"

Tenzou pulled his hand out from behind his back and handed the girl a violet colored Iris in full bloom. "Happy Birthday Kara-chan. Hope it's a memorable one."

Kara happily accepted the gift. "Wow.", she whispered breathlessly. "But… how? It's practically winter. This flower only blooms in spring."

He chuckled slyly as he rebalanced his packages. "Oh, I guess you could say I've got a green thumb. See ya' around." He continued on his way.

"Look Guruko!" Kara knelt down and pushed the flower into the dog's nose. "Isn't it beautiful?"

He sneezed, getting a bit of dog snot on the petals. "Sure. If you like things that die."

"Ugh. I think it's lovely." She frowned at his action and sentiment. "You can just walk the rest of the way." Kara held it against her chest, protecting the fragile plant from the cold wind.

--

"It's about time you got here!" Pakkun snapped at Guruko as he and Kara walked into Kakashi's house. "What'd you do? Take the scenic route?"

Guruko stuck out his tongue obnoxiously as Kara patted the pug on the head. "Better late than never, right?"

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Kakashi walked into the room and greeted his niece with a hug. "Happy Birthday, Kara."

"Thanks, sempai. Look what Tenzou-kun got me." She held the flower up to him.

Kakashi examined the plant. "Hn. Showoff." He mumbled under his breath. "It's very nice. But I think you'll like what I've gotten you more." He walked her into the kitchen where a few more of the dogs were loitering. "Wait right here."

"M'kay." Kara sat down and rapped her fingers on the kitchen table repeatedly as she impatiently waited for her uncle to come back with her present.

Akino walked up to her and stared quietly until she turned to stare back at him. "Why do you smell like a dog?"

"What?" Kara dipped her nose down into her scarf and got a nostril-full of Guruko's scent. "Oh. It's just this." She held the loose end of the accessory up innocently. "Guruko was cold."

"Ah. Well. We can't have you smelling like that mutt. I'll go find something to cover it up with." The dog walked off in search of some freshener for the scarf as far as Kara could gather.

"Thanks." She called after him. Kakashi came walking back into the room with a somewhat large rectangular box in his hands. "Oooh, what's that?"

He set it down on the table and sat down beside her, keeping one hand on top of the box. "It's your gift." His words were heavier than Kara was prepared for.

_What's with that tone? He made it sound like… well, I don't know. But nowhere near as cheerful as someone giving a gift should sound. _Kara leaned forward and carefully watched as Kakashi slid the box toward her. His eye looked slightly sad and determined at the same time. It was glued to the box. "Sempai? What is it?" She whispered and placed her hand on top of his.

"Open it." He suddenly snapped out of whatever daze he had fallen into and sat back in his seat, his hands folded neatly in his lap; his eye curled up in his trademark smile.

_Okay… not weird at all._ Kara rolled her eyes and proceeded to open the present. She gasped at the familiar red velvet cloth. _No. No way._ She gulped and turned to look at her uncle. "Is this…?"

He was still grinning, only now he appeared to be amused by her expression and not just attempting to hide his thoughts. "Only way to find out is to open it all the way."

Reluctantly, but driven by a combination of sheer disbelief and curiosity, Kara stood as she lifted the item wrapped in the scarlet cloth out of its box. A corner slipped off revealing the hilt of a short blade. Her hands went rigid and fumbled with the weapon. It would have fallen to the ground were it not for Kakashi's quick reflexes. He caught the bundle and held it between the two of them. "I-I can't accept that. It's too much." Kara covered her mouth. "It was your father's."

"And your grandfather's." He pulled back the rest of the cloth to reveal a completely restored tanto; the White Light Chakra Sabre. "It's more your inheritance than it was ever mine. You are called Konoha no Akai Kiba, aren't you? Here." Kakashi pushed for her to take the item.

With a steadier hand than before, Kara griped the handle of the legendary blade. The metal glowed with a bright, white luster. Kakashi looked to her for some sort of indication that she liked her gift. He found the amazed look on her face was comment enough. Her eyes darted up to look at her uncle. "I don't know what to say." Kara balanced the short blade at the point where the metal met the handle. The reformed weapon was as good as new if not better. The hilt appeared to have been completely replaced in exchange for one better suited for her slimmer hands.

"'Thank you' would be the conventional response." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders with mock indifference.

Kara grinned widely. "Thank you, sempai. I love it!" She rolled her hand and flipped the sabre once around before deftly catching it, showing no sign of her previous hesitancy. "Is this why you cancelled our training yesterday?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that. It took forever to find a blacksmith who was both willing and capable of fixing it and even then the re-forging took a lot longer than I had expected it to." He reached into the box and pulled out the scabbard; handing that to her as well. Kara's delighted expression only grew brighter as she holstered the blade and slipped the leather strap it was connected to over her shoulder.

Her new weapon now secured behind her left shoulder, Kara turned back to Kakashi. "Hey! Why don't we spar or something? I'm dying to try it out!" She tugged on the strap across her chest anxiously.

"Another time. Tomorrow. I promise." Kakashi glanced at the clock on the wall and stood. "I'm afraid I already have plans for today."

Kara tilted her head curiously. "Plans?" _Does this have something to do with what Tenzou was up to? _

"Yeah…" He seemed completely distracted as he started to walk out of the room with Kara hot on his heels. "But from what I hear, you've got plans too."

Just as he reached the front door Kara overtook his pace and blocked the door from being opened. "What plans? What do you know that I don't?"

Kakashi fussed with his headband and sighed. _Why ruin your mood sooner than need be? _He noticed a shadow appear in the window beside the front door. "I know you really ought to move away from the door." He took several steps back and gestured for the young girl to follow him.

"Oh please." She crossed her arms, undeterred by the recommendation. "Why? So you can leave without telling me what these mysterious 'plans' of yours and mine are? Does this have something to do with Tenzou? You know, I saw him just awhile ago. He was---!!!" Kara suddenly felt the door behind her convulse. She turned to face it, only managing to take a half a step back before the lock and hinges screamed in protest as the entire thing came flying inwards. Instinctually, she grabbed the blade strapped to her shoulder and swung. The top half of the door sailed over her head. She hopped over the bottom half as it skidded across the floor. "Heh…" Kara looked over her shoulder at her uncle, a pleased smile on her face. "Thanks again." She spun the short sword in her right hand.

"You're very welcome." Kakashi sighed and dropped the top half of his front door he had been forced to catch as it had careened across the living room straight at him. He looked past Kara and glared at the perpetrator. "You know you are paying for that, right?"

"Ha! Ha!" Gai stood in the doorway; the very definition of over-confidence. "It was well worth it."

Kara swiveled around to face him. "Sensei! Look what I got for my birthday!" She displayed the sabre with gusto.

Gai let out a low whistle. "I never thought I'd see that in one piece again. Let me see." Kara happily placed it in his outstretched hand. The instant her hand let go, the soft white glow dissipated. "Very nice. I'm sure it will serve you well, bugaboo." He handed it back to her.

Kakashi walked forward and placed a hand on Kara's shoulder. "Are you ever going to stop calling her that?"

"Calling her what?" Gai's childlike innocence took slight offense.

"He means calling me a 'bugaboo', sensei." Kara turned to look at her uncle. "But I like the nickname. It's just like me calling you 'sempai'. I suppose I could call you oji-san." She paused for a moment, letting the term linger in the air. "Eck… no. That's too weird. It makes me sound like Neji when he talks to his uncle." Kara laughed and leaned into Kakashi's side. His grin seemed reluctant and she picked up on it. "What is it?"

"Well… it's funny you should mention Neji…" He paused in his segue and looked back at Gai.

Kara glanced back and forth between the two men. Both appeared to have pained or uncomfortable expressions on their faces and both were avoiding her stare. She pulled herself away from her uncle and took a step back to watch the pair at the same time. "What about Neji?"

"Go ahead and tell her, Gai." Kakashi held out his hand as though in defeat.

The large man clearly did not see any victory in the matter though. "Why me? Why not you?"

"Because you busted my front door." He pointed to the broken pieces on the floor before casually sticking his hands into his pockets. "And because I assume you came here to escort her there." _Dumbass…_

"Escort me where? What does this have to do with Neji? And since it was brought up, was that entrance of yours really necessary?" All of Kara's questions were directed at Gai.

The jolly green giant wasn't very jolly as he opened his mouth to answer her. "To your party. It's being held at the Hyuuga household. And yes, it was absolutely necessary."

Kara was confused. "Party? Wait… if it's a surprise, then why would you tell me and ruin it?"

"It wasn't supposed to be a surprise." Gai shifted his bushy eyebrows to the side, indicating Kakashi. "Someone was supposed to have told you weeks ago."

Kakashi shook his head in disagreement before walking over toward the open entranceway. "Whatever happens Kara, I want you to understand that I was against this whole thing from the start." He casually waved to the two over his shoulder as he left the house.

Gai reached out and took hold of Kara's hand. "Come along bugaboo. It's gonna be a long day."

* * *

**That whole SasuKara moment in her moonlit bedroom… I wrote that out three times! Like the entire scene! First time, Kara was OoC. (she practically threw herself at him.) Second time, Sasuke was obscenely OoC. (he was laughing. Idk why!) Hopefully the third time was the charm, cause that's the one ya'll read.**

**For some reason Kabuto randomly decided he wanted in on my story. He's like the evil version of Tenzou. **

**Grrr… stupid sword terminology. Hope I wasn't completely inaccurate whilst describing the parts. In case it's not obvious, I don't own any weapons. …but who needs 'em right? The pen is much mightier.**

**Review! I know the 'Why did you bring up Neji at the end there?' question must be on ya'll's minds.**


	21. It's My Birthday

Wth? I'm updating? Yeah, I know it's crazy. Don't get used to it. lol

I want ya'll to know just how truly touched I am by all of your reviews/messages of support and love for this story. I know I've been gone for over a year and I'm sorry. My tastes are changing, my style is evolving and my time is being split into ever smaller slices to be spent on an ever increasing number of things. But for as long as this story is sitting on my laptop, it will remain in my mind. And so long as I still think about it, it will continue on. Again, Thank You All so much for sticking with the story!

* * *

Chapter 21: It's My Birthday and I'll Wreck It If I Want To

When Gai had told her it was going to be a long day, Kara really had no idea what to expect. What she found was nothing short of something completely out of left field. The Hyuuga household was all done up; lights hanging everywhere, festive decorations, music playing, people mingling and table upon table of food; ranging from sautéed dishes to the lavish pastries she had seen Tenzou retrieve earlier. She was dumbstruck, but not speechless. "I don't get it. Why…?" Her question was all encompassing.

"Well," Gai began to explain as the two walked further into the party atmosphere. "Let's just say, someone really wants to be your friend." _Hiashi better know what he's doing. One misstep and Kara's likely to bolt._ "Ooo! I smell curry!" He let go of her hand and disappeared into a crowd surrounding one of the food tables.

_Gee, thanks for leaving me sensei._, she grumbled inside her head. It was a familiar shout that brought her around.

"Kara-chan!" Naruto burst out from behind another mass of people. He threw his arms around her and lifted her off her feet with a bear hug. "It's about time you showed up to your own party!"

"Ha… yeah." Kara pried the boy off of her. "I thought you were leaving with Jiraiya-sama."

The blonde chuckled dismissively. "Not for another month. Hey! Would ya look at all the people who showed up. I mean, I knew you were famous now, but this is ridiculous."

"Famous? I don't know about… that." Kara rubbed her neck sheepishly, but her hand slowly dropped down to her side as she glanced around the courtyard. "Who are all these people?"

"Hn. You don't socialize very much, do ya'?" Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out a dumpling he had snatched off one of the tables to save for later.

Kara crossed her arms with a pout. "I lead a very full and busy life. Now quit stuffing your face and clue me in."

The boy wiped the crumbs off his mouth and pointed toward a group not far off. "Well, over there is Kiba and his entire family. You know them." He nudged her in the side, honestly expecting her to recognize the canine enthusiasts. What he got was an indifferent shrug. "You know… the Inuzuka clan."

"Yeah. I know **of** them. I don't know them. I think I might have met Kiba once or twice, but we don't really talk." Kara turned to look at another gathering of individuals. "Who are they?" She pointed.

Naruto gaped in disbelief. "How do you not recognize Shikamaru, Choji and Ino?"

Kara caught a glimpse of Ino's long, pale-blonde hair. "Oh, Ino. Tch, yeah I know her." She crossed her arms. "Why on earth would she be at a party being thrown for me?"

"Oh I don't know." Naruto rolled his eyes at Kara's density. For once, he actually understood more than she did. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that all the important clans of the village have been invited; the Yamanaka clan included."

_Heh, then why are you here?_ Kara chuckled to herself. "It all just seems a little fishy to me." She caught sight of Neji standing near an empty doorway that led into the main house. "I'll catch up with you later, Naruto. I'm going to go find out what all this is really about." Kara pushed past two dozen adults on her way to the other side of the courtyard. "Hey." Neji pretended not to hear the greeting and kept his back to her. "Hello?" She reached out and grabbed his shoulder. He rudely jerked away from her. "Oi! I'm talking to you!" _…bastard._

Neji spun around and clamped his hand over her mouth a second too late to stop her from spilling the brusque language. "Do you even care that there are some very important and sophisticated people here?" He hissed quietly as he looked out into the crowd making sure no one really noticed the guest of honor's rudeness. They hadn't.

Kara resisted the urge to bite the hand covering her mouth. She settled with smacking it away with her left hand. "No. As a matter of fact, I don't care. You wanna know why I don't care? It's because I don't know these people." She huffed and crossed her arms. "In all honesty, I'm completely clueless as to why you, of all people, would want to throw a party for me and invite a bunch of people whom I don't know, nor they me."

A man appeared in the doorway behind Neji. Kara recognized him as Hiashi; Neji's uncle and Hinata's father, the head of the Hyuuga clan. "That is not entirely true, Ms. Harada. Many of these people are well aware of who you are and what you represent." He placed a hand on Neji's shoulder, non-verbally telling him to move out of his way. Neji did as he was told. "If you'd come with me, I'm sure I could answer any questions you might have in private."

Wary though she was of the situation presented to her, Kara followed her gut instinct and accepted the invitation with a quiet nod. He gestured for her to lead the way into the house. Neji was left outside; almost as if he were guarding the doorway. When they reached a room that appeared to be a sort of study, Hiashi shut the door behind them. Kara quickly started the conversation. "I think it's safe to assume you'll know what I'm wondering about when I say; why?"

Hiashi paused for a moment, stunned at her blunt behavior. He had only met her once or twice before when she was Neji's teammate, a genin and Gai's student. She had always come across as an aloof girl of the utmost politeness. Apparently, still waters do run deep. He smiled calmly and walked past her to lean against a heavy wooden desk. "Why, you ask? Are you not aware of what you are young lady?"

Kara looked down at herself for a split second. She spied the thin, black scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, hanging loosely down to her hip. "…yeah." She whispered to herself. _Traitorously infatuated…_ When her eyes returned to their usual upright position, she remembered where she was and what her answer should have been. "I'm famous… or infamous. Guess it depends on who you ask."

The older man continued on with the discussion, choosing to ignore the duality her replies seemed to carry. "Yes. You are quite well-known. But you stand for so much more." He took a breath for dramatic effect. "You are the renewal of an entire clan." His eyebrows rose with inflection. "Your heritage coming to light has completely thrown the political balance held between the clans of Konoha. Because of your existence, the Hatake clan is once again viable."

The words coming out of Hiashi's mouth were quickly pissing Kara off. Words like, 'renewal', 'heritage', 'political balance' and 'viable'. Still, she did her best to keep her composure. "What exactly are you implying? Viable?"

"Oh, good. So you do consider yourself a part of the Hatake bloodline." Hiashi smiled, plans of the future forming behind his eyes. "I was concerned a bit because you haven't changed your name. Though, it shouldn't matter much anyway. Your nickname has ironically been enough to invoke comparisons to your grandfather."

Like a pitbull with her teeth stuck into a subject, Kara ignored the fact that this educated man had just misused the idea of irony. "Viable. What did you mean by that?"

Hiashi let the joy drain from his features leaving his face utterly impassive. Men like him did not like being demanded of. "Kakashi, your uncle, was accepted to be the last of his clan… the prestigious Hatake clan. And it is no secret that he has had no interest in taking part in the political aspect such a position would afford him. As a result, we, the powerful, important and talented families of Konoha, have since adjusted to exclude the dead-end, that Kakashi made quite clear, was his bloodline. In his own words, neither he nor any heir of his would have anything to do with the hierarchy of the clans of Konoha so long as he lived."

Kara blinked. She honestly didn't know what to make of the man. One moment he was friendly in a creepy way, the next he was snapping at her in a really professional way. "You'll forgive me for questioning you but, that doesn't sound like something Kakashi would say."

"No? Well, he was a much younger man when he and I last exchanged words. Just a bit older than you actually. But enough about him, what I wish to discuss is you." A relaxed tone reentered his voice. "You are not 'his heir' however you are an heir of the Hatake clan. I'd assume it is because of this fact that your uncle did nothing to stop this arranged meeting between you and I."

_Now that's a loophole._ Kara rolled her eyes. "What exactly is it that you want from me?"

Hiashi had noted her flippant expression. He sighed in an effort to calm himself. The last thing he needed was to lose his temper with the girl. "You have attained the rank of Chunnin with ANBU certification within two years of graduating from the Academy. It's clear for anyone to see that you are an exceptionally talented fifteen year old. I doubt very seriously that your success will end now. I would go so far as to predict that within the next five years you could hold a position of significant power in the village. If not that, then surely you will have the kind of influence and clout your uncle has."

"Heh…" Kara snorted and bit her lower lip in an effort to keep herself from making a mistake. It didn't do anything but make her lip hurt. "You know it's funny…" She scratched her head as she glared at the man. "You said this is all about me, yet you keep bringing up my uncle. Makes a girl wonder, ya' know?"

"I don't mean to take away from your accomplishments. I just want you to understand the importance of this." He tried to sound placating. It sounded more condescending in Kara's ears.

The teenager raised her hands, palms down. "Oh? And what is **this** exactly? You have yet to answer my question. Allow me to repeat it for you. What do you want from me?"

Hiashi stood up straight, no longer leaning against the desk behind him. He waited a moment, hoping the silence would make Kara realize how rude she was being. She was well aware of her attitude. She just didn't give a damn at this point. "What I want… Is to be your friend." _Though you're making it incredibly difficult. _

"My friend?" Kara raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"Precisely. It would be very beneficial, for both of us, if, in the foreseeable future, you and I were political allies. Though the elders and the council lay claim to being in control of village affairs, we all know that it is the families, the clans, that have the real power. The influence the combined support of the Hyuuga clan and the last heir to the Hatake clan would have would be unquestionable." His sales pitch over; he leaned toward her. "You agree, don't you?"

Kara smirked disgustedly. "Oh yeah. I agree. We would be an undeniable force to be reckoned with." She scratched her chin absently. "Shame I couldn't care less."

"What?" Hiashi retreated a step and stared at the girl with hard, disbelieving eyes. "Don't be as foolish as your uncle was. He might not have the fortitude for politics but surely you do."

"And there you go again. Bringing up Kakashi. Insulting him, no less." Kara shook her head back and forth with a sigh. _Don't be mad. Don't be mad. Don't be mad. _She kept repeating the mantra in her mind. "Thanks for the party. Aside from the fact that it was orchestrated purely to butter me up and convince me to call you my best buddy in a future where I have earned a slice of power and influence by myself all to **our** combined advantage… it seemed nice. But unfortunately, I am going to have to decline the offer. I suppose I am just as inclined to have the same foolish opinion, that political ass-kissing is just not for me, as my uncle." The teenager turned away from him and started to walk out of the room. She opened the door and paused to look back at him. She had one more thing to add. "Oh, and a word of advice for the foreseeable future… Don't ever talk about anyone I care about like that to my face again."

The door slammed shut behind her. Hiashi stood there, fuming, just barely mature enough to keep himself from lashing out.

Kara shoved Neji out of her way as she walked out of the house and back into the courtyard. "Move, Hyuuga." She grumbled as she stalked past.

"Hey, what's your problem?" He stumbled, but managed not to fall down. "Kara!" He reached out and caught her by the arm. "What happened? Why are you so angry? I thought you of all people would appreciate the opportunity here."

The girl let out a sarcastic 'Hah'. "But of course you knew what was going on. How could you not have known?" She glanced down at her captive arm. "Let go."

Neji tightened his grip. "You're making a mistake, Kara."

She looked away from him for a moment, decided against asking him again to let her go and instead chose to deliver the first punch. It landed square over his left eye. Unfortunately, his iron grip on her arm remained and he pulled her down with him as he fell. "Argh! You stupid brat!" He let go of her once she hit the ground and quickly stood back up on his own.

Though the music was still playing, over half of the party-goers were completely engrossed by the sudden fight. A clearing formed around Kara and Neji. "Screw you! You asshole!" Kara stood back up and faced her adversary. "I've had just about enough for one day, so just back the hell off." She raised her hand in warning.

"Fine. Fine." Neji growled. He noticed the crowd and knew when this was over he was going to be in deep shit with his uncle. "I kinda figured you didn't have the disposition that would welcome the honor of being allied with the Hyuuga clan."

Kara hated that he called being used by a manipulative jackass for political gain an 'honor'. She snickered, "For a caged bird you sure are singing a pretty tune."

The words suddenly set him off. Though he and his uncle had worked out their differences, it was still a touchy subject. He ran straight at her, catching her in the gut and slamming her to the ground. Kara kicked him off and rolled out of the way before he could land a punch. She didn't wait for him to chase after her. She jumped on his back and grabbed hold of his hair. They continued to fight; not as the trained killers they had been taught to be, but as the over-stressed, vendetta-filled teenagers they were. No rules, no glory.

The entire crowd now watched; gasping and wincing as the two fought. Naruto, along with several of the other teens, managed to squeeze their way to the front. "Left, Kara! Hit him with your left!" The blonde shouted.

Kara stumbled backward and fell into Kiba. The boy held her up, stunned by the fact that she was a lot heavier than she looked. "Thanks." She gasped and reclaimed her footing.

"No prob-" He was cut off by Neji's fist crushing into the side of his face. Kara had ducked at the last minute, not giving her any time to warn him.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." Kara looked up at Kiba from where she was crouched down low on the ground.

He didn't hear her. He was too busy lunging back at Neji. "Why you son of a bitch!"

It was not what Neji was expecting, but like Kara, he too could think fast on his feet. He dashed back toward Naruto and ducked. Kiba's claws scratched down the boy's face. "ARGH!" Naruto shouted out and covered his injured face.

"Heh heh heh…" Neji chuckled from where he was low to the ground.

"What are you laughing about?" Kara drew his attention just as she swung her foot around, kicking the Hyuuga right in the center of his chest. She watched him fly back, crashing into one of the food tables. Just as he was standing back up, a heavy punch bowl slid down and slammed into the back of his head, knocking him out cold. "Well… now that that's settled." Kara turned to make the quick exit she had planned when she had made her way out of the house, only to see a scene of utter chaos unfolding behind her.

Apparently, Kiba and Naruto had a history of getting into little spats. So when Kiba accidentally attacked the blonde, he took it personally. The two instantly got into it, dragging other ninja into the brawl. The guests who weren't used to such open displays of aggression were screaming as they dodged attacks from all sides aimed at another ninja standing behind them. The courtyard quickly became a warzone. Even the older, more mature ninja were getting forced into the fray.

Kara spied Gai attempting to hold back Choji who was in the midst of plowing through the crowd using his Human Boulder technique. Kara guessed one of the boy's teammates must have taken a blow and this was retaliation.

_Okay then… I should really get out of here now._ Kara sprinted toward the nearest wall and quickly climbed over it. Once safely on the other side, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was short lived.

Waiting for Kara on this side of the wall was Anko. She had not been allowed on Hyuuga property since the Tomato Incident and therefore had not received an invite to the afternoon soiree, despite her dedicated position as Kara's mentor. "Why… You…. Little Hellraiser, you!" Anko snatched Kara up in her arms with glee.

"Ack, uh… let go. Can't breathe." Kara managed to push the older woman away and take a breath.

"God, I've always wanted to do that." Anko climbed halfway up the wall, just high enough to peek over the top and watch the destruction.

Kara held her side. "What? Crush me with your man-arms?"

The jonin glared down at her for a second. "…no." She looked back over the wall. "Trash this place. Hoity toity, blue-blooded mother fuckers, think they're all that and a sack of shit." The battle was already dying down. Gai had succeeded in corralling most of the wild children that had caused the event to escalate so quickly. "You are like, my hero for the day. Seriously, bravo." She jumped back down and patted Kara on the shoulder with a smile.

"Thanks, I guess." Kara stretched out her arms as Anko began to lead her down the street, away from the commotion. "Where are we headed?"

"Someplace special. For your birthday." She quickened the pace. "Keep up, squirt."

A few minutes later the pair arrived at your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, standard training ground. "Wow. I feel special already." Kara stood in the middle of the field, pulling on her scarf idly.

"Shut up or you won't get your present." Anko hissed. "Now, put out your hand and close your eyes." Never one to turn down a present, Kara instantly did as she was told. Her teacher placed what felt like a thin cylinder in her hand. "Open your eyes."

Kara stared at the scroll in her hand. Her jaw dropped. "Oh my god." She looked up at Anko and then back again at the scroll. "Oh my god", she repeated. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Well what else could it possibly be?" Anko shook her head sarcastically. "Of course it is what it is." What she had placed in Kara's hand was the summoning contract with the snakes.

"You found it last night? Where was it? We searched every inch of that laboratory." Kara held the scroll with both hands, clutching it tightly against her chest.

Anko's smug grin faded slightly. "I remembered where it was kept."

"Where?" Kara pressed further. "Some kind of hidden compartment or something?"

"…yeah. Sorta. The snakes hold onto the contract. I just had to summon the right one." She quickly explained. "Go on. Sign it and you can try it out for yourself."

Kara put her hands on her hips. "Wait a sec. Are you telling me that we spent hours upon hours in a scary, dirty, creepy lab last night… for nothing?"

Anko blinked and looked at the girl with a threatening gleam in her eye. "Yes."

Erring on the side of caution, Kara sat down on the ground and unraveled the document. "O-kay then." She didn't recognize the first two names. They were probably people from a very long time ago and had since passed away. However, the next two were very recognizable. Orochimaru and Mitarashi Anko. Those were the only four names on the contract. _So Sasuke hasn't learned to summon snakes…. Hm, it's probably only a matter of time. He'll see my name if and when he does. Heh, that'll probably drive him crazy._ The flirtatious thought of driving the boy a little mad distracted her momentarily.

"Well come on already! Did you wanna learn or not?" Anko tapped her foot impatiently. "We're burning daylight here."

Kara blinked and rejoined reality. She glanced up at her teacher with a snotty look. "I don't have any writing utensils."

"Oh I'll show you writing utensils." The jonin grabbed Kara's right hand and cut the tip of her pointer finger.

"Ah!" Kara jerked her hand back. "What the hell?"

"You need to sign in your own blood. It's what makes the connection." Anko picked her teeth with the kunai she had used in the abrupt attack.

"You could have just told me that and I would have done it myself." Kara grumbled and began writing her name on the scroll.

Anko shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "Can't change the past. No point in squabbling over it."

_Oh my god, it happened two seconds ago. Don't really think that qualifies as the past._ Kara finished and handed the scroll back to the woman. "What now?"

"Well, whatcha do is get a bit of blood on your hand, place it on a flat surface, flood the spot with as much chakra as you can and think of a snake." Anko walked over to a tree and sat down at its base, closing her eyes for a catnap. "You probably won't get the hang of it for quite awhile."

Kara sat still for a moment. "How about a demonstration?"

"Hm? …yeah, sure." Keeping her eyes shut, Anko bit into her thumb and smacked her hand down on the ground beside her. A puff of white smoke a split second later dissipated to reveal an average sized serpentine coil of scales. The snake was sound asleep. "Oi, wake up, Mushi." She picked it up by its neck and forced it to straighten out.

The snake opened its mouth and hissed loudly. "It's Mamushi. What do you want?" It wriggled out of her grasp and hit the ground slithering away from her.

"Here." She tossed the summoning scroll at Mamushi. "I believe that's yours." Anko opened her eyes and looked over at Kara. "Demonstration complete."

Kara wasn't paying much attention to Anko at the moment. She was watching with a slack jaw as the summoned snake unhinged its jaw and began swallowing the contract whole.

The snake noticed the unsolicited attention. Once it finished, it reattached its jaw and made its way over to her. "Let me guess, you're the newbie Anko wanted the contract for." Kara nodded, watching the snake's careful movements. "You gotta name?"

"Kara." She spoke softly as the snake got closer to her.

"Well, Kara, allow me to make a prediction right now." Mamushi reached her arm and climbed up to shoulder level to stare the girl in the face. "The odds of you ever actually summoning one of us is beyond slim… especially if you're as weak as your eyes say you are." It hissed and flicked its tongue in her face before disappearing in another puff of smoke.

Anko yawned and resettled herself. "Don't listen to that bastard. He's all bite and no poison." Sleep started to overtake her. "You'll get the hang of it… eventually."

_I'm sure I will. I'm just not sure if I'll want to. That Mamushi seemed evil. And if he's some kind of small fry, I don't even wanna think about what one of the dangerous ones is like. _Kara sighed and got up onto her knees, placed her hand on the ground and gave it a try.

The afternoon waned away as Kara kept trying to complete a summon. After each failed attempt, she used an incrementally larger amount of chakra in an effort to learn exactly how much it would take to accomplish the task. Waste not, want not.

However, she was not immune to the frustration of spending nearly six hours doing the exact same thing over and over again. _One more time, and then I'm going home…_ Kara kept her hand on the ground, all her weight pressing down on it for support. _Three, two, one… _

Anko awoke from her nap at dusk to an amusing and somewhat horrific sight. Though her every instinct was telling her to collapse to the ground holding her sides from laughter, the bluish tone of Kara's face kept her silent. "Ah-hem…", she coughed to get Kara's attention. "Need some help?"

Kara's disoriented eyes twitched and looked over at her errant sensei. Her nostrils flared in an attempt to snort angrily. However, her lungs were simply too constricted to inhale the necessary air.

Some time prior to Anko's awakening, Kara had indeed succeeded at completing a summoning. Unfortunately for her, she had somehow managed to call up a twenty foot boa constrictor with a real bad attitude. No sooner had the snake set eyes on the fifteen year old, did it lurch forward and fling it's body around her calves. With all the instincts of a terrified child, Kara had naturally screamed out for help. The only problem was that Anko was an un-naturally deep sleeper… either that or she simply ignored the desperate pleas of her young charge in the belief that the only way she would learn to control the vicious beast would be through good old-fashioned brute force. Best way to teach a kid to swim is to thrown 'em in the deep end. Kara obviously disagreed with this tactic; at least when it pertained to her continued existence in the land of the living.

At present, Kara was on her knees, wrapped from thighs to shoulders by the huge serpent. Her hands were trapped near her face, holding her new glowing white sabre against the serrated, gaping jaws of the snake just inches from her scarf-covered throat.

"Okay… so this is what you're going to do." Anko stood over the scene with her hands propped up on her hips. "Kakashi says you've got a pretty good handle on creating raw lightning out of your chakra. So what I want you to do is focus on pushing that lightning into your little knife there and cut its head in two. Once you get past its jaw, you need to curve upward and sever the spinal cord; otherwise, you'll just end up with a lot of snake blood on you as you die."

With her last bit of strength, Kara twisted her wrists to the proper angle. Lightning crackled out of the blade as its light grew blindingly bright. A split-second later the top half of the boa's head toppled to the ground with a thud. Kara immediately pushed out her elbows and began to breathe deeply as the thick body of the reptile loosened and slowly uncoiled around her into a dead heap of snake flesh. "…hah…hah… How did that work? …hah…" She huffed as she stood up on shaky legs.

"How did what work?" Anko held her arm, steadying her.

"The… thing…" She flicked her wrist, waving her sabre in front of Anko's face.

The woman looked a bit surprised. "Oh. You mean you've never channeled your chakra through a weapon before?"

"Not like that." Kara wiped the snake blood off her birthday present and sheathed it behind her back. "I didn't know I could."

"Yeah. I figured Kakashi would have already taught you how to do something as simple as that." Anko kicked the remains on the ground and let out a low whistle. "Shame ya' had to kill it." She looked back to the teenager. "How'd you manage to summon up one this big in the first place?"

Kara replied sarcastically. "Well, my uncle might not have informed me of a number of simple things, but he has taught me how to properly manage my chakra reserves. Did you know there is a very fine line between 'not enough' and 'too much' when it comes to the energy necessary for a summoning?"

"Meh, it's a feeling. You'll get better at it over time. Come on." Anko grinned and started walking back into town; Kara following alongside her. "Wanna grab some dinner?"

"Sure." Kara shrugged indifferently, though she was secretly happy to have one normal and relatively mundane activity to look forward to on this, her most chaotic birthday to date.

Their dinner was nice and uneventful. The food was good as far as village food went. It was even pretty quiet until the night crowd came out making the main streets noisy and congested with people. Leading such drastically different lives, it seemed only natural that simple villagers and deadly ninja would always jump at the chance to live it up. Think about it. Boring life as a farmer or merchant; never doing anything interesting. Dangerous life as a ninja; never knowing if your next mission would be your last.

"Oh come on!" Anko prodded Kara in the side. "You know you want to. Come on! It's your fifteenth birthday!" The teenager wasn't budging. "I'm only offering because it's your birthday and it's only going to be your birthday for like, three more hours." She glanced at a clock on the wall. The time sure had gotten away from them.

"I don't care. I don't want to." Kara pouted; her face like stone.

"What the hell kinda teenager are you?" Anko held the shot glass in front of Kara's eyes. "All kids your age would die to have someone like me condone underage drinking for them. But you're just sitting there like a stick stuck in the mud." She retracted the drink and downed it herself.

Her blue eyes glaring at the older woman, Kara snorted. "The drinking age is eighteen. I don't want to break the law." _The last thing I need is to give anyone a good reason to suspect me of a crime._

"Break the law, my ass…" Anko grumbled as she poured one last shot. "Do you have any idea how many laws we have here in the village?" She paused for dramatic effect and slid the small glass of vodka in front of Kara. "And do you know how many no one gives a shit about?"

"Probably a lot. But I do 'give a shit' about this law. It's wrong, it'll stunt my growth and it'll kill off my brain cells. I'm still blossoming! I need those brain cells for thinking and stuff." She pushed the shot glass back to her mentor and crossed her arms obstinately.

Anko grumbled and took the shot. "Weirdo."

"Alcoholic." Kara snapped back.

"Hey now… I'm not as bad as some people." She happened to glance out the window and catch sight of the perfect example. "Like Jiraiya over there."

"Ugh!" The sannin half laughed as he held his empty stomach. Though, 'empty' might have been the wrong term. It was full of various alcoholic beverages; just no solid, sustainable food. "Why don't we grab a bit of food, eh ladies? Hehehe…" The small gaggle of females floating around the old man and his entourage giggled in approval. "And then it's back to the clubs, I promise." Next to nothing could wipe the grin off his face.

Kara watched Jiraiya and his party through the restaurant's glass window. _To think he's supposed to be some kind of epic ninja. Looks more like an epic loser from here._

"Oh look!" Anko feigned excitement. "How typical. It's your uncle." She pointed to a dark-haired man in the group that seemed to be making sure Jiraiya didn't fall down in his drunken stupor.

"Now I know you must be drunk." Kara rolled her eyes and pointed out all the obvious differences. "That guy has short black hair, TWO dark eyes and you can actually see his face. Clearly not Kakashi."

Anko moved her hand like a mouth in unison with Kara's logic, mocking her. "Dur… it's called a transformation jutsu for a reason."

Kara took a second look at the man. She was still skeptical and Anko could tell.

"Yeah, he does this every year Jiraiya's in town for his birthday. If Kakashi walked around looking like himself, it'd easily ruin his reputation." The woman elaborated further. "He just waits till the old man is so out of it he doesn't know who the hell is partying with him. I tell ya', the craziest shit happens when Jiraiya floats around town instead of just sticking to the whorehouses." Her laughter died off as the spoken of ninja entered the restaurant; the disguised Kakashi leading the way. "Well, speak of the Devil."

Kara continued to stare, trying to see some semblance in the man.

"Really, just a quick bite and then we'll be on our way." The unrecognizable Kakashi negotiated with the restaurant owner to let Jiraiya and his 'friends' be served.

The owner shook his head and tapped his fingers on the countertop. "I don't want any trouble. He's so loud and boisterous-"

"Yeah, but that's all he is. Just a little loud. Come on. It's his birthday." Kakashi pressed further.

Kara walked up and got the owner's attention; looking into his eyes sweetly. "Birthday's do only come around once a year."

"Well…" The man sighed, caving to the pair's argument. "Fine, but as soon as you lot are done eating, you're out. Understand?" He pointed at Kakashi.

"Understood. Thank you, sir." He nodded appreciatively.

"Uh-huh…" The owner eyed the two of them suspiciously. "I'll go send a waitress to your table." He walked away.

"So." Kara hopped up onto the countertop and stared at the man she knew to be her uncle. "You look awfully familiar." She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

Kakashi stared back and chose his words carefully. "Is that so, little girl?" Kara nodded with a knowing smile. "Okay, who told you? Tenzou?" He looked around for the only guy he had told about his little masquerade.

"What?" Kara held her hand to her chest feigning offense at the question. "What makes you think I wouldn't recognize my own flesh and blood when I saw it?" She noticed the disbelieving look in his unnatural brown eyes and sighed. "Anko pointed you out. I still didn't believe her until you admitted it just now. It's a really good disguise, by the way." She poked his exposed cheek and pulled his black hair. "Better than Tsunade-sama."

"Hardly." He brushed her hands aside with a laugh. The impromptu examination was annoying. "I can only keep it for about eight hours or so." He caught sight of Anko building a toothpick structure at her table. "I'll be right back."

Kara slid off the countertop and watched Kakashi sit down across from Anko at the other end of the restaurant. _That's probably not going to end well._ She raised her eyebrow at the situation. _Oh well, not my problem._ She turned to leave and walked right into someone.

"Is this seat taken?" Kakashi slid into the empty chair across from Anko without waiting for permission.

"Yes, actually. It is." She looked over at the man through the base supports of her little toothpick tower. "But I guess you can sit there until she comes back." Anko added another layer to her work before snapping at the intruder. "What do you want, Kakashi?"

He leaned forward and held his hand at an angle threatening to topple the woman's diligent work. "I want to know how you know it's me. I only ever told Tenzou about my little charade."

The snake woman's eyes turned to wicked slits as she glared back at him. "Knock this over and you die."

"Answer my question and you won't have to trouble yourself." He inched his hand closer.

Anko slowly sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. "A few years back I noticed…'you'" She waved her hand at him, implying his disguise. "And I was convinced you were some kind of spy because I didn't recognize you. Tenzou was with me and he casually suggested I not start anything with a complete stranger." She leaned forward and smiled. "It didn't take much to make him tell me exactly why I shouldn't."

Kakashi nodded slowly. "There aren't many people who can make Tenzou tell a secret…" He pulled back his hand and placed it gently on the table so as not to disturb Anko's creation. It didn't do much good, because at the same time a tremor rocked the entire restaurant; knocking over just about everything that wasn't nailed down.

Anko stared down at the pile of loose toothpicks covering the table.

"I swear that wasn't me." Kakashi watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye while he looked over at the other end of the restaurant; the source of the commotion.

"Oi! Watch where you're going short-stack!" The boisterous Toad Sage wobbled backward two steps after Kara walked into him.

"Ah, sorry." She tried to walk around him, but with his large berth and drunken staggering about, she ran into him again.

This time, he fell backward, right onto his rear end. The entire restaurant shook with the force. A few of the tramps in the man's entourage squealed with laughter at the sight. The sound of their laughing deeply embarrassed the old ninja. He stood back up, puffed out his chest and glared down at Kara with a crazed look in his eye. "Do you have any idea who you're messing with? You… you…." He bent down to get a better look at the girl. He gasped when he recognized her. "You buzzkilling, obnoxious, little child, you!"

Kara blinked innocently. _Okay, now would be a good time to find an escape route._

"I am the Great, All-Knowing, All-Powerful Toad Sage Jiraiya! And you…. You have exasperated me for the last time!" He jumped up onto the nearest table, his head nearly touching the ceiling.

Kara stared up at him from where she stood unmoving. "Really?" Her quiet voice carried well in the shocked-silent restaurant.

"What? Well… Yes!" His face was bright red; whether from alcohol or aggravation no one in the building could tell. "I will not tolerate being annoyed by you any longer!"

"No, that's not what I was asking." Kara gingerly pushed a young couple's plates to the side as she climbed onto their table to face Jiraiya. "Are you really All-Knowing and All-Powerful? Cause I think you're exaggerating there." She adjusted the scarf around her neck and the scabbard strapped to her back. "I'm pretty sure I could beat you in a fight." She curled her fingers around the handle to her sabre.

"Kara!" Kakashi shouted at her while he pushed past people frozen in awe of the sight. He knew she had gone too far and he would only have moments to get to her before Jiraiya did. Anko was following behind him at a somewhat slower pace. She kind of wanted to see what was going to happen.

The simple sentence set Jiraiya off. "How dare you challenge me!" He bellowed and raised his hands up to the ceiling. With a single surge of chakra, Rasengan spun to life in each of his hands. The lights in the restaurant flickered and began to die. The near-comatose crowd of customers screamed back to consciousness and charged for the exit, pulling Kakashi and Anko, just as they were about to reach Kara, back out into the street with them.

"No! Ugh. Get out of the way!" Kakashi tried to order the crowd to disperse so he could get back into the building, but it was useless. The street was flooded with people running in all directions. "Kara!"

"Oh relax. I'm sure she's fine." Anko got a hold of his arm and kept him from shoving anymore panicked civilians out of his way. There was a sudden surge of energy, the restaurant interior flashed red and the lights of the entire street went out. "Would you look at that? The power's out." She sighed.

"Thank you for stating the obvious." Kakashi jerked his arm back. "But if you don't mind, I need to find Kara before-"

"Before what?" Kara's cheerful voice interrupted him.

Both adults swiveled around expecting to see the teenager. They did not. "Kara?" Kakashi asked before coming to the realization that she was using her Toton jutsu. "What in the hell would possess you to challenge Jiraiya when he's in a state like that?"

Kara dropped the ninjutsu and frowned. "I'm sorry but he started it." There was a loud crash across the street where Jiraiya was still tearing the restaurant to shreds. "And apparently, he's still trying to finish it."

Anko chuckled at the pile of chairs and tables that were being flung out of the shattered windows. "How long do ya'll think he's gonna keep this up?" She asked no one in particular.

Kara continued the conversation with her uncle. "He was drunk and he ran into me TWICE. Then he fell and got all mad and I had to distract him so I could escape."

"And let me guess…" Kakashi raised his hand and gestured to the darkened street lights. "You did this?"

"Kinda… sorta… maybe… yeah." Kara admitted. "It was easier than I thought it would be. I just grabbed a light bulb and made as big of a flash as I could. Though, I honestly didn't expect it to knock out the power to the whole street."

"Heheh…" Anko chuckled when she saw Jiraiya stumble out of the building and trip over some of the furniture he had flung outside. "…dumbass."

Kakashi noted the sannin as well and began to usher Kara away. "Well, it was only a micro-EMP. It could have been worse."

Kara's eyes lit up with comprehension. "EMP? Electro-magnetic pulse? I can do that?" The man nodded. "Hn. There's all kinds of things I can do that you haven't told me about, isn't there?"

He nodded again. "Better for you to discover them on your own. I'd hate to ruin the surprise for you."

"YOU!" The restaurant owner shouted and pointed at Kakashi from across the chaos ridden street. It would take him a minute or two to reach the guilty party.

"Well…" Kara stretched and began to distance herself from her uncle. "I'm sure you're gonna be busy with all of this for awhile. See ya' later sempai." She slipped into an alley and disappeared.

"So." Anko had grown bored with Jiraiya's drunken exploits and walked over to join her fellow shinobi standing on the side of the road.

He glanced at her for a moment before looking back at the restaurant owner as the man made his way ever closer. "So.", he replied. "Night." He turned and like Kara, disappeared into the night.

"Night." Anko sighed and strolled away in the opposite direction.

The poor restaurant owner arrived on the other side of the street to find himself alone.

* * *

Looks like Kara should have a new extended nickname, eh? "Konoha no Akai Kiba, Hebi no Kira" Sound good?

The Mushi/Mamushi thing is funny if you look up the meanings of those two words. Anko doesn't really like snakes. To her, they're just another ninja tool; useful.

No. I don't know when the next chapter will be showing up. It's truly a miracle this one made it out. But here's a heads up; I'm sick of writing a young teenage girl, so "Kara's Arc" is canceled. Next chapter (whenever it develops) will continue on with the tradition of following the manga. Meaning: She will be 18 years old! Yay! I can so do young adult! (seeing as how I am one) Don't worry, I'll let ya'll know in the chapter how time has passed. It will be a smooth transition.

So, my birthday was just this past week (nov11) and I got a tattoo! It was the single most painful experience of my life. It's a Jack of Hearts Playing Card (actual size).


End file.
